What causes abdominal fat?
The biggest culprit for storing fat around the middle is stress , this is due to the effect that stress has on our bodies. When we are frightened or stressed our sympathetic nervous system gets excited and prepares our body for flight or fight. To do this our body releases the hormone cortisol, which then releases stored fuel into our bloodstream in the form of fatty acids, sugars and amino acids to prepare for physical activity – fight or flight.
Sympathetic nerve endings in the adrenal glands release adrenaline while the sympathetic nerve endings throughout the body release noradrenaline. Adrenaline and noradrenaline are chemical messengers that are released very quickly and start a cascade of physiological reactions in various organs such as an increased heart rate, down regulation of digestion, insulin resistance, mobilisation of fats, proteins and sugars into the bloodstream.
Trouble is, we usually don’t play out this physical response as we aren’t running away from threat or a fearful situation. Instead we are sat at our desk being worried about a deadline, and so this stress response goes unused. All these sugars, fats and amino acids circulating in the blood stream due to your stressful situation or deadline are not needed while you are sitting at your desk, so they build up and can cause damage.
To protect itself from the damaging sugars, our bodies turn those excess calories into fat. Cells in the abdomen have more receptors for cortisol than any other part of the body, so most of that fat gets stored around the tummy area. People who produce excess cortisol tend to have bulky waistlines and apple-shaped bodies rather than pear-shaped ones.
The pancreas also plays a part during stress response and releases the hormone glucagon which acts on the liver to release stored glucose (glycogen), this is to mobilise energy and ready the body for fight or flight. In a panic to all this unwanted damaging fuel in the blood, insulin is secreted from the beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin then mops up and stores the fats, amino acids and sugars and pushes them into our cells.
This decisive over-reaction will cause more fats and sugars to be stored as fat.
How can we manage stress to reduce belly fat?
1. Exercise right for your body type
Stress, unhealthy lifestyle, poor diet, lack of sleep are not exclusive to an individual body type. We recommend all body types (endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph) try the below recommendations as this will help de-stress, reduce cortisol and lose belly fat.
As a quick rule, an exercise routine for an ectomorph should consist predominately of two to three full body resistance workouts, keeping the weights heavy with one steady state cardio, working at just below lactic threshold for 20-30 minutes per week.
A mesomorph should also perform full body workouts, splitting the resistance and cardio 50/50, however their cardio sessions should be high intensity hit training of around 30 seconds high intensity 45 seconds low intensity.
The endomorph body types exercise routine should be higher in high intensity cardio, around 20 seconds on high intensity phase 45 seconds low intensity phase. This body type should do one full body resistance workout per week.
2. Try something new that works for you
Yoga, meditation, art classes, exhibitions, naps, reading, massages, therapy – whatever tends to reduce your stress levels, set some time apart each day to make sure you are making an effort to actively reduce your stress levels.
Hugs, sex and love will also help to lower cortisol levels thanks to the feel good hormone oxytocin.
3. Increase your magnesium intake
Stress uses up a lot of magnesium, this mineral also aids the parasympathetic nervous system subsequently helping relaxation and sleep.
Eat foods high in magnesium such as green leafy vegetables, nuts, brown rice, meat and fish. Dark chocolate is thought to reduce cortisol.
Plus, magnesium will also help you get better quality sleep which is also key in reducing stress levels.
4. Increase your B and D vitamins too
B1, B5 support the adrenal glands (which work hard in times of stress), and aid energy metabolism. Foods high in vitamin B include, eggs, liver, legumes, milk, green leafy vegetables, salmon.
Increase Vitamin D by exposure to the sun for 20 minutes a day and increasing foods high in vitamin D such as tuna, salmon, sardines, egg yolks and liver.
5. Don’t under-eat
Eat enough food for your body type, height, weight, activity level and goal, but not too much.
Have a look at our body type calculator to find out how many calories a day you should be eating, and the correct macronutrient (fat, carbohydrates and protein) you need.
If you have any questions please contact ABCPharmacy
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From: healthisa.com
