What Causes Belly Fat in Women?
August 08, 2022
Jessica Cutler, M.D., is a weight loss surgeon at The Maryland Bariatric Center at Mercy, located on the Mercy Downtown campus. Dr. Cutler recently responded to questions from Parade magazine (online) on the topic, "What Causes Belly Fat in Women - And What to Do About It". Here are Dr. Cutler's responses:
1. "Belly Fat" also known as "visceral fat" or "internal fat" is fat stored within and around our organs, all the way inside the abdomen. This is different from fatty skin folds on the outside of the belly, which are less dangerous to your health. Our body makes more visceral fat when it has run out of safe storage space for the food you are eating. When you eat food, it is converted into sugar by your body so your cells can use it as fuel. Any sugar that isn't used is first stored in the liver in an easily accessible form you can access later. Once your liver runs out of space to store this sugar as glycogen, if you continue to eat food without burning up the energy deposits you've already stored, you'll store additional sugar as fat, which is often deposited inside the liver and around the inside of your abdomen. Sugary foods, particularly those containing fructose (think processed foods containing high fructose corn syrup), are likely to be stored this way because most of your cells don't know how to use fructose as an energy source. All your body can do is to turn it into fat and hope you will be able to use it later.
2. Insulin is the hormone that tells your body to store its sugar for later use. When your liver is already full of energy, your body needs to make more and more insulin to store the extra energy in your body. This leads to "insulin resistance," which you may notice as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, or "metabolic syndrome" - all conditions that are linked to increased visceral fat. You may also notice extra fat deposits in your liver on certain imaging tests, or elevated liver numbers on your bloodwork which might indicate ongoing inflammation from too much fat in your liver ("nonalcoholic fatty liver disease" or "nonalcoholic steatohepatitis").
3. To get rid of visceral fat, we first have to stop adding more visceral fat. Cutting out processed sugary foods is the first step on this process. If you do eat carbohydrates, try to stick to natural forms that have fiber, protein and vitamins included (i.e. whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts rather than white bread) - nature has already packaged foods in a nutritious way, and when we process them and remove the extra nutrients, all we are left with is sugar which goes straight to visceral fat. Walking after dinner can help lower your blood sugar levels by using some of the sugar you've just eaten before it can be stored as fat.
A board certified general surgeon who is Fellowship-trained in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Cutler works alongside Dr. Kuldeep Singh, Director, The Maryland Bariatric Center at Mercy. The Center provides patients access to a premier multidisciplinary weight loss program that is supported by Mercy's many renowned clinical programs and specialties.
About Mercy
Founded in 1874 in Downtown Baltimore by the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Medical Center is a 183-licensed bed, acute care, university-affiliated teaching hospital. Mercy has been recognized as a high-performing Maryland hospital (U.S. News & World Report); has achieved an overall 5-Star quality, safety, and patient experience rating (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services); is A-rated for Hospital Safety (Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade); and is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Magnet™ hospital. Mercy Health Services is a not-for-profit health system and the parent company of Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Personal Physicians.
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