A little bit of belly fat isn’t such a bad thing. It helps to protect your vital organs, after all!
It’s a delicate balancing act, though, as storing too much fat around your abdomen can be dangerous and linked to some nasty health problems. We’re talking about heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer, to name just a few things for which it may set the scene. Scary, right?
Some of the culprits of abdominal fat are pretty obvious, especially if you’re eating a lot of processed foods and not doing much exercise. There can be some surprising reasons behind belly fat, though, and these can come into play even if you think you’re living a healthy lifestyle. Here are some factors that can make you more likely to store fat in your abdominal area.
Factor #1 – You’re Overeating Sugar and Trans Fats
If you eat a diet containing a lot of processed sugar, you’ll probably struggle to shift belly fat. According to studies, there is a definite link between the two. This can be primarily to do with the fructose content in processed sugars.
Trans fats are another big no-no if you want to avoid belly fat. These are the worst type of fat you can eat as they promote inflammation, and according to studies on animals, they also encourage more fat to be stored on and around your abdomen.
Factor #2 – Your Alcohol Intake
You’ve no doubt heard of a “beer belly,” which can affect women too. Depending on how much you drink, it could be the culprit for stubborn belly fat. Some studies have shown that alcohol can make it harder to burn fat and make it more likely, that the extra calories it brings to the party deposit weight around the abdomen.
Factor #3 – You’re On a Low Protein Diet
If you want to stay trim, getting enough protein in your diet is essential. Protein helps you to feel more sated and can mean that you consume fewer calories. According to studies, low-protein diets are also more likely to result in belly fat. People who eat a lot of protein tend to have very little in the way of belly fat.
Factor #4 – You Don’t Eat Enough Fiber
If your diet is low in fiber, you will likely store belly fat. Observational studies show that getting plenty of soluble fiber reduces the chances of this. In one study involving over 1,100 men and women, every extra 10g of soluble fiber led to a 32% decrease in how much belly fat was stored. This has a lot to do with low fiber increasing your appetite, and belly fat.
Factor #5 – You’re Scared of Eating Fat
Fat has a bad rep, which can put you off from eating it. While it’s true that you don’t need a lot of unhealthier fats, good fats can help you to lose weight and keep belly fat to a minimum.
Monounsaturated fats are good fats and are essential for satiety. In addition, they’ll help you to feel fuller for longer, so you’re less likely to make unhealthy food choices that increase your potential for storing belly fat.
Factor #6 – You Have Too Much “Bad” Bacteria in Your Gut
According to research, an imbalance of gut bacteria can affect your weight and how much fat you store in your abdomen. If you’re overweight, you’re more likely to have a type of bacteria that can absorb more calories from your food.
Factor #7 – You’re Stressed
Under a lot of stress? It could be one of the reasons why you’re storing belly fat. The stress hormone cortisol can lead to weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. Rather than going on your body across the board, cortisol often encourages extra calories to be stored as abdominal fat.
Factor #8 – You Don’t Sleep Well
If you spend a lot of time tossing and turning in the average night, there’s a much higher chance that you’ll store belly fat. Poor sleep is linked to weight gain in general, and according to some studies, it also predisposes you to abdominal weight gain in particular.
A large-scale study of more than 68,000 women found that those who slept less than 5 hours per night gained a lot more weight than those who slept 7 hours or more.
Factor #9 – You Don’t Get Enough Magnesium
Getting enough magnesium in your diet can lower your blood sugar and insulin levels. That’s not surprising when you consider that this mighty mineral is involved in over 300 chemical reactions in your body! Some of these reactions affect your body’s ability to burn fat, which can indirectly impact your weight.
Factor #10 – Your Exercise Isn’t Intense Enough
Not all exercise is equal to busting belly fat and keeping it off, especially if your workouts aren’t intense enough. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a good option, but anything that involves reasonably fierce exercise several times per week should help.