After the body uses the energy from the food we eat, the remaining fat is stored as fat cells (Adipose Tissue). However, accumulating more fat than the body needs can not only make you look unattractive, but can also lead to serious lifestyle diseases like heart disease, fatty liver, and diabetes. Here are the main reasons behind this accumulation of fat in the body:
Excessive carbohydrates and refined sugar: The large amounts of rice, gourd, flour desserts, and sugar in tea that we Malayalis mainly eat can quickly increase blood glucose. When the body is unable to convert this glucose into energy, the liver converts it into triglycerides or fat and stores it in the stomach and other organs.
Insulin Resistance: The biggest hormone villain behind fat accumulation is insulin. When we eat sweets and carbohydrates frequently, the level of insulin in the blood is always high. Since insulin is a ‘fat storing hormone’, it prevents the burning of existing fat and causes new fat to accumulate in the body.
Lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle: In people who sit for hours at a time or do little physical activity, the body’s metabolism rate becomes very slow. When the muscles do not move to burn the calories in the food we eat, they naturally start accumulating around the stomach.
The stress hormone ‘Cortisol’: In people who go through severe mental stress and lack of sleep, the body produces an excess of the hormone cortisol. This hormone replaces fat in other parts of the body and causes it to accumulate around the internal organs (Visceral Fat). This can quickly cause a belly.
Age and gender (hormonal changes): As we age, our muscle mass decreases and our fat mass increases. In women, the decrease in estrogen hormone after menopause causes fat to be concentrated from the hips to the abdomen, while in men, the decrease in testosterone as we age also causes fat to increase.
