In India, the yearly rise in adult obesity is “very high,” at 5.2%, while the yearly rise in childhood obesity is similarly high, at 9.1%. Increased cases would lead to almost a million new cases of cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes, according to reports.
Belly fat is just one of the many variables that affect a person’s chance of heart disease. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a new study that looked at ways that people with extra abdominal fat could reduce their risk and safeguard their hearts. This is important to know.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether leading a healthy lifestyle could influence an individual’s waist-to-hip ratio—a measurement of metabolic health and abdominal obesity—and risk of coronary heart disease.
To refresh your memory, extra fat around the waist is associated with a range of detrimental health impacts. This is before we go into the study’s numerical findings.
Integrative medicine physician Sara Gottfried, M.D., previously stated in an article for Mindbodygreen that having extra belly fat increases oxidative stress and inflammation while also encouraging the accumulation of fat. If you don’t turn the switch, the outcome is a vicious cycle of disease, symptoms, and hormonal misfires that will drag you down.”
Utilizing data from the UK Biobank study, which included over 280,000 participants, the researchers evaluated participants’ genetic susceptibility to a high waist-to-hip ratio in addition to five aspects of a healthy lifestyle, which include:
1.Engaging in regular exercise
2.abstaining from smoking
3.Maintaining a nutritious diet
4.Avoiding alcohol or consuming it in moderation
5.Sleeping for 7–9 hours per night
Over 11,500 cases of coronary heart disease were reported during the follow-up median of 13.8 years; a healthy lifestyle was found to be beneficial in lowering that risk.
To be more precise, people who adhered to four to five of the aforementioned healthy lifestyle characteristics were 25% less likely to develop coronary heart disease than people who did not. The authors of the study further point out that even among patients who were genetically inclined to have a high waist-to-hip ratio, the same healthy lifestyle characteristics were beneficial in lowering risk.
How to handle it
These results provide five specific actions you can take to maintain your health, regardless of whether you’re trying to lose belly fat or just want to lower your chance of heart disease.
According to the study’s authors, people with a high or medium genetic risk of abdominal obesity who lead healthy lives may be less likely to acquire coronary heart disease than people with a low genetic risk who lead bad lives.
When in doubt, avoid smoking, consume alcohol in moderation (less than three drinks per week, per this study), engage in regular physical activity, give adequate sleep a high priority, and eat a balanced diet rich in heart-healthy foods.
Diabetes
News9 was informed by Dr. Johann Varghese, Consultant in Endocrinology at SRV Hospitals in Goregaon, Compared to Caucasians, Indians are racially predisposed to developing diabetes mellitus and its consequences earlier in life. This is partially because fat tends to gather around our waists more readily. Surprisingly, our waist circumference grows with age even while our weight may not. Known as “thin-fat” Indians at times. The accumulation of fat around the abdomen is significant because it has a negative influence on liver function and some chemical signals that come from the fat deposits around the waist are harmful to health. This increases the risk of cardiovascular disorders and is a prelude to insulin resistance, which is the fundamental cause of diabetes mellitus.
In this case, there are problems with the pancreas’s ability to release insulin, which results in high blood glucose levels. The more prominent the fat buildup around the abdomen, the higher blood glucose levels rise, increasing the risk of diabetes and its sequelae.
The lesson learned
Reducing excess weight around your abdomen can do more for you than just look good or give you a six-pack; it can lower your chance of heart disease. The best things you can do for your heart and diabetes overall are to return to the fundamentals of healthy food and lifestyle, according to new research.