Mar 08
28
Why are Men More Prone to Beer Bellies?
So, it’s long been sort of a cliche that men are the ones who most often have what we call affectionately “beer bellies”. But beer bellies really aren’t a laughing matter as they used to be a few short decades ago, since now we have medical evidence that show men with large, centrally located fat deposited in their bellies, or guts, have a much higher likelihood of dying earlier than those that do not have fat in this area, and specifically men who have beer bellies are much more prone to heart disease. But men aren’t the only ones, women with belly fat are also more likely to suffer heart disease, and strokes as well.
While there may not be concret evidence telling us WHY those with more belly fat are more likely to have health problems, the correlation between the two remains. With about 2/3 of American men being overweight or obese, this has become somewhat of an epidemic in the US today, especially since we’ve seen a staggering increase in the amount of heart disease, diabetes, and associated problems.
Women are more likely to store their excess fat (which is essentially excess calories that our bodies store), they tend to store them more in the buttocks and the thighs, whereas men tend to store this fat in their bellies. When we store too much fat in one centralized location like this, it tends to throw off our blood glucose levels and this can in turn throw off how we release sugar, our blood sugar, and can lead to problems like diabetes which then of course increases heart risks.
It’s pretty easy to tell if you store all your excess fat in the belly just by looking at your body. Men can measure their waist to hip ratio at a gym and a fitness expert can tell them how much they need to cut downt their beer guts in order to have a healthy ratio and to help avoid these health issues that are associated with “beer bellies”.
