Belly Fat Stress

By now, most understand that belly fat is a risk factor for heart attacks and other illnesses. But what many may not know is that belly fat is also a bi-product of stress. It's not only everything you eat causing a fat stomach, it's also everything you feel.

A Beer Belly is a Stress Belly

• According to Dr. Oz, celebrity doctor, talk show host and cardiothoracic surgeon, when people are stressed out, their bodies release large quantities of steroids into the blood stream. Their systems try to clear out these steroids, literally by sucking them out of our bloodstreams and storing them in the omentum. The omentum is a large mass that sits below the abdominal wall and is largely associated with an extended, protruding "beer" belly.

The Downsides to Belly Fat

• The bodily overreaction to stress and the formation of an enlarged omentum has many downsides such as: building a resistance to insulin--thus raising blood sugar, destabilizing hormones and pumping fat into the liver. This type of fat, belly fat, is the fat that is linked to chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart problems and cancer. The constant build up of stress steroids, in this case cortisol, causes a bad chain reaction in the system and leads to health problems like high blood sugar and obesity.

A Poor Diet plus Stress Equals Belly Fat

• Researchers at Wake Forest University conducted a study where they fed a group of monkeys a diet high in fat and cholesterol. Of course they gained weight, but what was interesting is that the monkeys who were stressed out developed considerably more belly fat. "That fat behaves differently than fat in other locations. It can have far more harmful effects on health than fat located in other areas," said lead researcher Carol A. Shively, a professor of pathology at Wake Forest. Although the research was conducted on monkeys, the result is similar in humans. And belly fat is the fat that we shouldn't monkey around with.

Long Term, Out-of-Control Stress is the Toxic, Fatty Stress

• It's the toxic, chronic stress can lead to belly fat. Long term stress, such as stress from a demanding job, bad relationship or financial worries, is the stress that is considered toxic. This stress is what causes the weight gain below the abdominal wall. Bottom line, it's not just the calories that need to be cut, it's time to cut out the stress.

How to Lose Fat

• Obviously, follow the golden rule of eating right; a low-fat, high-fiber diet is best. But that's not the only important step. In order to lose that omentum, you have to gain some momentum. Exercise not only burns calories and increases your metabolism, it reduces stress and is a critical step for losing inches around the waistline. It's also important to try and reduce stress levels. Whether that is done through stress management programs or alternative methods such as yoga and meditation--you have to decrease stress, not just calories to lose that belly fat.