Abdominal obesity is diagnosed when the waist circumference is greater than 90 cm in men and 85 cm in women. In general, at a young age, body fat is evenly distributed throughout the body, so the percentage of abdominal obesity is low. However, as you get older and gain weight, it comes out from your stomach. What is the reason? It is a natural result of hormonal changes and accumulated lifestyle.
The reason why the belly comes out when you get olderㅣSource: Clip Art Korea
1. Aging of fat cells
Fat in our body is stored in fat cells. However, adipocytes are not simply depots for storing fat. These fat cells break down stored triglycerides into fatty acids when needed and supply them as an energy source. However, as we get older, our ability to break down fat declines. In fact, the research team at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden confirmed this through clinical trials, not animal experiments.
The researchers took fat cells from healthy women between the ages of 30 and 35, then resampled them 13 years later to compare their ability to break down fat. As a result, it was confirmed that the lipolysis ability of adipocytes was reduced. There is no significant change in the ability to store energy as fat, but the ability to take out and use accumulated fat as an energy source has fallen. Therefore, even if you eat the same meal, the older you are, the more likely you are to accumulate fat. And the body part where these fat cells are most distributed is the abdomen.
In the case of adults, when carbohydrates are continuously consumed excessively, neutral fat accumulates inside the abdominal fat cells, increasing the size of the cells themselves. This is why you should limit your carbohydrate intake as you get older.
2. Decreased growth hormone
Growth hormone is secreted from the pituitary gland located deep in the brain, and its secretion decreases by 14.4% every 10 years following the age of 20, and following the age of 60, it is reduced to regarding half of that of those in their 20s. Growth hormone helps in the growth of bones and muscles during adolescence. However, in the adult body following growth, it not only maintains muscle mass, but also plays a role in dissolving fat and distributing it evenly throughout the body. After the 30s, when the secretion of growth hormone begins to decrease rapidly, the fat cannot spread evenly to the extremities, so the fat is concentrated in the abdomen. Among the abdominal organs, especially around the intestines, it accumulates and becomes the cause of various adult diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
There are three important recommendations for increasing growth hormone. Adequate hunger, moderate exercise, and not excessive stress.
3. Decreased sex hormones
As you get older, the decrease in sex hormones is also the main culprit of belly fat. In women, following menopause, estrogen, which inhibits the accumulation of visceral fat, decreases, so they gain weight in the abdominal area. During menopause, changes occur in the distribution of body fat. When estrogen secretion decreases following menopause, the distribution of fat cells shifts from the buttocks or thighs to the abdomen, so the thighs become thinner and the belly fat increases.
On the other hand, the decrease in sex hormone secretion is somewhat slower in men than in women. Testosterone secretion generally peaks in the late 20s and then gradually decreases by 1% per year from the 30s. When the male hormone in the body decreases, the function to maintain muscle is slowed down, and the total muscle mass decreases, while the body fat mass increases. The accumulated body fat lowers testosterone levels once more, which creates a vicious cycle that exacerbates abdominal obesity. Strength training that stimulates large muscles, such as squats and lunges, is known to promote testosterone secretion.
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