Why Fat Accumulates More in the Belly and Not Elsewhere in the Body

Tumisu

When you're past the age of 25 or 30, you tend to build up fat in the belly. I started mine at age 50, but before that I found it easy to prevent building up belly fat and easier to develop my muscles. But after 50, it was a different story. Why can't fat just distribute itself evenly in the body? Why concentrate in the belly?

First, because food stays long in the belly, not elsewhere. Your stomach is the storage area (along with the intestines) so any fat build up understandably happens there. You don't store food in your legs, chest, arms or shoulders. No wonder the tummy gets the brunt of the problem first before any other part of the body does.

I often imagine, it would've been better if fat could be distributed evenly in the body, or perhaps stored only in the chest, upper back, shoulders and legs. Nothing in the belly. Then fat people would look fitter instead of looking like a bell. But God didn't design it that way. He thought that fat in the belly is better than fat anywhere else. You ever wondered why? I often think about it.

Here's Why It Targets the Belly

Well, according to science, it's the cortisol that's all to blame. For some reason, it accumulates fat in the belly. In an article on HealthLine.Com, it goes like this:

In many people, stress drives overeating. But instead of the excess calories being stored as fat all over the body, cortisol promotes fat storage in the belly.

Then the article points to some findings in a study published on PubMed about how the, "Activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is regulated by a negative feedback loop that dampens central drive of the axis via the actions of the secreted glucocorticoids. Conversely, under conditions of chronic stress, glucocorticoids delivered centrally increase hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) expression and the response to restraint."

Watch the video then click here.

I don't know what you can make out of that but I seem to get some hints in the part where it talks about "glucocorticoids delivered centrally increase hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus." According to an authoritative medical site, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus involves neurons which play essential roles in controlling stress and metabolism, among other things.

See? God designed it that way. Some chemical reactions in the brain triggered by stress and overeating send signal to our body metabolism, and that in some way makes fat deposited heavily in the tummy. Count on it, when it involves metabolism, it means how much fat and calories the body burns, especially the tummy area.

Now several factors make our metabolism work slow so that we get more belly fat than others (and find it hard to get rid of them than others. Unfair, isn't it?). One is hormones. When an illness affects some hormonal shifts in the body, metabolism slows down. Lack of sleep is another. Here is a short list:

1. Not eating enough often slows down metabolism. No wonder some strict diets don't work.
2. Iodine-less salt in food.
3. Not enough water in the body.
4. Believe it or not, you may be lacking coffee. Click here and read number 7.
5. Lack of calcium.
6. Some meds slow down metabolism.
7. Lacking carbs in your diet. Eat more sweet potatoes.
8. Not eating on time.
9. Fatty food.
10. STRESS