When Men do not Reduce Belly Fat they are at Risk for Cause Cognitive Complications
You already know that the more belly fat you have, the higher your risk of developing several life threatening health complications including heart disease and diabetes, but you might not know that the excess belly fat has also been linked to cognitive problems such as dementia. Researchers have discovered that when a person has belly fat, the fat actually causes their brain to shrink. The more the brain shrinks, the greater the likelihood is that you will eventually be diagnosed with either dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Men with an abundance of belly fat and who do not take steps to reduce belly fat are three times more likely to be diagnosed with a cognitive health problem than men who are fit and trim.
Just because you might not have a spare tire, it does not mean that you could not be at risk for dementia. What researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine discovered is that the belly fat that causes the size of the brain to shrink has nothing to do with the fat hanging over the top of your jeans, in fact, it is possible for men who have flat stomachs to have belly fat that can trigger dementia. The belly fat you see is not the culprit. The problem is deeper than that. The belly fat that leads to dementia is the deep, visceral fat that you cannot see.
As of right now, scientists are unable to say exactly how much visceral belly fat causes a specific amount of brain shrinkage, but they do know that the more visceral fat the test participant’s had, the smaller their brains appeared. Researchers based their study on MRI’s and CT scans that were performed on 733 test subjects. The individuals who volunteered for the study were involved with the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort.
It is very difficult for a person to measure just how much visceral fat you have Some doctors in the United Kingdom have created fat maps that are designed to help show how much visceral fat a person has these fat maps were created with the help of 300 people who did not mind having MRI’s of their body being shown around and discussed. The body maps are a fantastic way of seeing where the visceral belly fat forms and how it builds up around the internal organs. If you are worried about exactly how much visceral fat you have managed to develop over the course of your lifetime, you are going to have to go to the hospital and have a scan done of your abdomen. The only other way to estimate how much visceral body fat you have is by using the Body Mass Index which uses your age, height, sex, and weight to determine approximately how much visceral fat you have packed around your internal organs. Doctors in the United Kingdom are hoping that the fat maps they are creating will help them develop a Body Volume Index that will provide a better estimate about the amount of visceral belly fat you have.
It is possible to get rid of your visceral belly fat, but it is going to require a level of commitment from you. When you decide to reduce belly fat the first thing you are going to have to do is sit down and take a look at your diet. You are going to have to eliminate foods that have a high fat content such as pizza and French fries. You should replace at least one or two of your weekly servings of red meat with some fish. Instead of using salad dressings, cover your salad with a nice layer of Olive oil. In addition to changing your eating habits you should also plan on getting plenty of exercise when you want to reduce belly fat.
The one thing that you should not do when you are trying to reduce belly fat is take up crash dieting. The experts have found that individuals who are constantly gaining and losing weight as a result of chronic crash dieting tend to have even more visceral belly fat than men who are just moderately overweight.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s are terrible illnesses. They will not kill you, but over time they will cause you to forget everything that you love. The more advanced the illness become, the more your memories will fade until even the faces of your children and spouse have no more meaning to you than a stranger on the street. You owe it to both yourself and your family to do everything you can to reduce belly fat so that you can enjoy healthy brain activity during your golden years.
Links that you might find interesting:
Alzheimer's Disease and Other Forms of Dementia
