4-Men.Org > men's health > nutrition > causes of abdominal fat

The causes of fatness?

You sir...have a belly.

When you put on your BVD's the lettering indicates the boulevard that is your waistline.

While it is true that some people are simply predisposed to being larger than others...there is literally an abdominal obesity fat epidemic taking place across the entirety of North America.

Some have speculated as to the direct cause of the obesity epidemic and reached various conclusion.

While eating too much junk food and not exercising enough is generally the reason you get fat, many lifestyle factors conspire to place that fat directly upon your belly.

Genetics

Thank your mom and dad for your particular body type, as well as the hormonal blueprint that compounds fat storage. Recent investigations into the effect of genetics on body composition and obesity have revealed a hormone called "leptin" which appears to control appetite and regulate body weight.

Stress

Many people tend to eat more when stressed since we are conditioned from a very young age to use food for solace ...and those comfort foods thend to be high in fat, sugar and calories. Secondly, stress increases the hormone cotisol, which interferes with the regulation of growth and sex hormones like testosterone. Chronic shortages in testosterone contributes to bone loss, muscle loss and abdominal fat storage.

Drinking

There's a good reason that flab hanging over the end of your belt has the neighborhood kids calling you "LArd of the Rings". If you're taking in more calories than you're burning - be it a Lowenbrau or a bagel - that excess is being stored as fat. One or two drinks per evening can be good for your heart but any more than that and you'll start to outweight the benefits...literally.

According to studies, calories from alcohol go directly to your abdomen, meaning that after three or four drinks, you're looking at 600 empty calories above and beyond what you eat during the day unless you burn it off with extra activity.

Excess alochol also decreases your all-important serum testosterone levels and may even cause you to lose up to 20% of your muscle mass resulting in a condition called "alcoholic myopathy."

Just remember...the less muscle you carry, the fewer calories your body burns on a daily basis and the more calories that are then stored as fat...rather than used as energy.

Drew Voight