Visceral fat is also known as belly fat and can be extremely harmful in large quantities as it raises your chances of developing a number of serious health conditions. If a person lives a stressful life, they may be increasing their risk of not only belly fat but other major health incidences.
Prolonged stress can affect a person’s mental and physical health.
It can even lead to a little extra weight around the middle, and extra abdominal fat which increases a person’s risk for serious health consequences.
Stress belly isn’t a medical diagnosis however, but it is a way to describe how stress and stress hormones can affect one’s belly fat.
Cortisol is a crucial hormone produced in the adrenal glands. It helps control blood sugar and metabolism, among other things.
Along with other hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol is part of your body’s “fight or flight” response.
When faced with a crisis, this stress response slows unnecessary body functions so you can focus. Once the threat passes, everything goes back to normal.
However, prolonged stress can keep stress hormones levels elevated, along with your blood pressure and blood sugars.
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In a study published in Springer Link, stress and obesity was investigated.
The study noted: “Stress has long been suspected to be interrelated to (abdominal) obesity.
“Increased long-term cortisol levels, as measured in scalp hair, are strongly related to abdominal obesity and to specific mental disorders.
“Stress may play a major role in the development and maintenance of obesity in individuals who have an increased glucocorticoid exposure or sensitivity.
“These insights may lead to more effective and individualized obesity treatment strategies.”
Medical News Today reported that stress “plays a role in storing excess visceral fat”.
This is because a stressed person is swamped with the hormone cortisol.
The Society of Endocrinology explained that cortisol is made in the adrenal glands and released into the bloodstream.
Dietician Dina Aronson added: “Repeated elevation of cortisol can lead to weight gain.”
How to reduce stress to get rid of visceral fat
Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to combat stress.
Exercise lowers your body’s stress hormones including cortisol in the long run.
It also helps release endorphins, which are chemicals that improve your mood and act as natural painkillers.
Apart from exercising, meditation and yoga have been proven beneficial in helping one to reduce their stress levels.
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