Dangers of Pot Belly: Causes, Preventive Measures and Treatment

Firstly, a pot belly is also known as abdominal obesity or central obesity, both male and female are liable belly fat.

Pot-belly

Causes

This is usually as a result of the accumulation of fat around the abdomen due to consumption of fatty foods, foods high in calories, high intake of alcohol without exercise, weak abdominal muscles, age etc.

The major causes of abdominal obesity were listed above but it also can be influenced by gene i.e. it may be hereditary or environmental- persistence social, family and financial strains cause stress, which in turn triggers stress in the stress-response network of the brain to produce glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoid is a hormone which increases the desire for food and secretion of insulin promoting food intake and obesity.

Wealth: an increase in income is most likely accompanied by a more sedentary life style and a probable consumption of meals high in total calory.

Preventive measures

It should be noted that it is easier to accumulate abdominal fat than to get rid of it. You have to be on a vigilant nutritious diet having in mind that dietary supplements will work but only for a short period of time.

Treatment

Instead, indulge in regular exercise both aerobic and anaerobic, consume food rich in dietary fiber such as oat, barley, wheat, citrus etc.

This is because apart it from being low in calory, high fiber containing foods helps you get full without eating so much, unlike the fatty foods which produce more than twice of the kilo calorie of other food nutrients (i.e. protein and carbohydrate have a caloric measure of 4kc while fats and oil are 9kc).

Remember, regular exercises such as brisk walking, swimming, cycling are important as pot belly put you at risk of certain diseases like; Type 2 Diabetes, cirrhosis, heart diseases, insulin resistance, hypertension and much more.