Do you know what causes belly fat in females?
Before going into the cause of obesity in women, let's repeat the definition of obesity, although, in this blog, many articles defined obesity.
Abdominal distention is a sign of many serious illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease …
Understanding the causes of abdominal obesity in women helps women to have rapid weight loss. Now BellyFatZone invites you to refer to this article together!
There are two types of belly fat:
- Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds the internal organs. This fat causes more harm to the health of the sick.
- Fat under the skin is the fact that lies just beneath the surface of the skin. You can improve and limit the amount of fat stored here. Eliminate the causes of abdominal fat in women to help burn fat.
What mechanisms cause belly fat in women:
Age is the cause of abdominal fat accumulation:
Women after 40 years of age are more likely to gain weight. Due to hormonal imbalance. The older the people, the more active the functioning of the body.
The aging process makes the metabolism slow. As a result, the body burns fewer calories, and fat accumulates around the waist.
Women's menopause reduces the amount of estrogen that makes the body accumulate fat to maintain hormonal balance, leading to weight gain. Besides, the hormone progesterone is also produced slowly.
“If women gain weight after menopause, fat will focus on the abdomen,” said Michael Jensen, MD, Mayo Clinic Professor of Medicine.
Read more: How to lose belly fat after 40?
Abdominal obesity
During pregnancy, women with hormonal changes women gain weight. After birth, the amount of estrogen decreases the leftover fat layer around the thigh, especially your abdomen.
Fat in the abdomen during pregnancy is a good reason. First of all, extra fat can be resilient to adaptation when the baby changes in size in the abdomen.
Next, this fat layer plays an important role in protecting the baby. Therefore, after the pregnancy, most women take a long time to regain their physique.
The origin of abdominal fat due to stress, stress:
Stress does not only affect mental health but also causes you to gain weight. When stressed, sleep difficulty means that the production of leptin is interrupted.
The hormone that helps regulate appetite is no longer effective. Therefore, we often eat fat from snacks and sweets.
Stress causes high levels of cortisol hormone, which causes abdominal obesity in women.
Therefore, restrain your emotions, keep your body in a stable state to avoid fat accumulation.
Bad behavior increases the risk of abdominal obesity:
Sitting, lazy – causes abdominal fat in females.
This is the biggest cause of belly fat in women. Lazy fat promotes the accumulation of fat throughout the body, especially around 2. Besides, sitting for a long time will make your abdomen suffer the most severe.
Walk for a few minutes after sitting for a long workday.
Eat the night – causes belly fat in females over 40
Eating not only puts pressure on the digestive tract but also causes you to gain weight. The digestive system needs to rest after a long day of work.
Late feeding into the stomach cannot be attained. Besides, food stagnation in the stomach also makes you indigestion.
Eating fat is bad for the body:
- Saturated fats (found in meat, milk) increase visceral fat.
- There are monounsaturated fats (found in olive oil and butter). Side by side, polyunsaturated fats (mainly omega 3, found in walnuts, sunflower seeds, salmon …) have anti-inflammatory effects.
Fast food such as fried chicken, hamburgers, canned meat, fried potatoes … also causes abdominal fat. Besides, fatty foods, soft drinks, and sodas also cause belly fat in females over 50.
Add vegetables and fruits to your daily meals. Balanced diets will limit fat accumulation.
Whatever type of fat is added to the body increases the calories and makes you gain weight quickly. Therefore, use healthy fats in moderation.
The most common causes of belly fat are:
1. Calories in vs. calories out:
There are many reasons women may have excess belly fat; the main one is an imbalance of calories and calories.
Quite simply, if we consume too much food, it is stored as fat. However, most of us know when we attempt to reverse the fact that it might not be as simple as that!
Nonetheless, knowing your BMR is a good place to start in attacking belly fat. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day.
2. Food choices:
Food choices are a major impact on the accumulation of belly fat. Sugar, in particular, fructose, has been linked to abdominal obesity, especially when people drink soft drinks.
This is due to an excess of kilojoules consumed or because the fructose slows down metabolism, and fat burning doesn’t really matter; the bottom line is too much sugar is stored as fat!
3. Alcohol intake:
Alcohol intake has a function in belly fat. After all, a beer belly didn’t get its name for anything! The excess calories from alcohol consumption are stored as fat, and like sugar, alcohol slows down fat burning and metabolism.
Daily intake of three or more drinks or binge drinking on four or more drinks regularly had the biggest risks. Here is causes for belly fat in females over 60, too.
4. Consuming ‘bad’ fats:
Consuming fats. Have you heard the saying fat makes you fat?? It’s true depending on the types of fats, as they are not created equal.
The worst offender which everyone should avoid at all costs is TRANS FATS. These are facts that have been messed with by adding hydrogen to them.
It makes them more stable, so the junk food it is added to can stay on a shelf longer, but it also creates lots of inflammation in our bodies and is linked to insulin resistance and belly fat.
5. Inactivity:
Exercise and activity play a big part in getting belly fat off, making sense that little to no exercise or activity is a big factor in putting it on.
People who watch more than 3 hours of TV per day double their risk of abdominal obesity than people who watch just one hour.
6. Modern convenience:
Modern convenience reduces our need to be active, so it elevates our risk for weight gain. Have you seen Wall-E??
This is our future if we aren’t mindful and reduce our dependence on technology a bit…Take the stairs!!
7. Aging:
Aging plays a role. Even if they don’t gain weight on the scales, many women notice an accumulation of belly fat as they age, particularly around menopausal age.
This is due to hormonal shifts, when a decrease in estrogen impacts our fat distribution, making it belly-focused instead of hips and thighs.
8. Not Enough Sleep:
Sleep affects our weight. Those of us who sleep poorly, five hours or less a night, are linked with weight gain. Sleep-disordered breathing, such as sleep apnoea, is linked with higher amounts of belly fat.
9. Stress can gain belly fat:
Stress can cause belly fat! The body interprets any stress the same, whether physical stress such as smoking or perceived stress such as driving in rush hour.
The bottom line for stress in the body is the hormone cortisol production, and cortisol, unfortunately, encourages the body to deposit more fat at our bellies.
10. Post-pregnancy:
Post-pregnancy our belly changes shape. The uterus drops, and the abdominal muscles shift, so it takes a while for the body to regain its muscular strength, with the subcutaneous layer of fat at the forefront until that occurs.
11. Gut bugs:
Gut bugs play a part! If our gut flora's balance is tipped to promote certain bad bacteria, they encourage us to gain weight and stimulate belly fat.
This can be due to bad choices in our diet feeding bad bacteria causing SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth), resulting in bloating.
The bacteria can send signals to our brains, triggering cravings for carbohydrates and sugars
that they want to feed off. Pretty clever, but not too great for our waistline.
12. Genes
Genes can be a major factor in belly fat and obesity. You know when people say, “oh, it's in the genes, Aunty So And So was fat, My mum was fat, my sister is, and so I am too,” there are actually genes that are markers for obesity.
A 2011 study states more than 40 known gene variants associated with obesity and fat distribution.
Epigenetic markers do not mean that you “HAVE” to be overweight; it just elevates your risk and hopefully motivates you more to make better choices to avoid obesity.
13. What happened in the womb
Before we are born, we can be set up for obesity. If your mum smoked during pregnancy or had an inferior diet, you have a higher risk factor.
Babies born with really low birth weights or really high birth weights have a greater chance of being overweight or obese later in life.
14. PCOS – Polycystic Ovary Syndrome:
Women with PCOS have a higher amount of visceral fat than women who don’t have the disorder.
It is unclear whether the mechanism of PCOS is from hormones promoting weight gain or weight gain promoting hormone dysfunction.
Conclude:
This article is intended to help you understand the causes of abdominal fat formation in women to tackle the root cause of abdominal fat.
View more:
- What Foods To Eat to Lose Belly Fat?
- Lose Belly Fat Best Way Overview and Details
- Lose Belly Fat Overnight Maybe or Not? Things To Know To Succeed
Hopefully, the information above has helped you gain some more knowledge about “What Causes Belly Fat in Females” and bring some small value. Please share this article if you feel it is useful. Thanks!
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References