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Ageless Forever Anti-Aging News Blog

Watch Your Belly – not just to look good!

Over the past two decades it has been established beyond any doubt that the amount of fat around the waist (aka abdominal fat and visceral fat) is at least as important, if not more important, than the total amount of body fat in predicting and /or causing complications that have been traditionally associated with overweight/obesity.[1]
 
Abdominal obesity is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease independent of BMI (a proxy for obesity) [2, 3] and is thought to affect disease risk through increased insulin resistance.[4, 5]  Actually, the common development of insulin resistance with aging is caused by growing bellies, rather than aging per se.[6] Notably, normal-weight abdominal obesity is associated with higher mortality than generalized obesity (as defined by BMI).[7]
 
An enlarged belly is an especially strong indicator of metabolic risk in men.[8, 9] People with large a waist circumference – i.e. those having a belly - have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, compared to those with smaller waist circumferences, regardless of BMI. [10-14] Your waist also impacts your longevity, which I covered in a previous article "Watch Your Waist - it may shorten your life!"
 
And your belly can interfere with your sex life...
 
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Watch Your Waist - it may shorten your life!

Your waistline not only makes or breaks your esthetic appearance; if you belly gets too large, it may greatly jeopardize your health and even longevity.

Waist circumference strongly correlates with abdominal obesity and is the most commonly used measure of body fat distribution.[1, 2] Many studies have found enlarged waist circumferences to be associated with all-cause mortality, in most cases independently of general obesity.[3-11]

Abdominal obesity (aka visceral obesity) appears to be more strongly associated with multiple chronic diseases than is gluteo-femoral obesity (fat deposition around the butt and thighs).[1] Increased waist circumference confers a health risk even in normal weight people.[12]

A notable large study investigated the association of waist circumference with mortality using intuitive 2 in (5 cm) increments for men and women, and also evaluated risk within narrow categories of body fatness (BMI). In addition, the study estimated years of life lost due to a large waist circumference.[13]


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