Excessive Belly Fat Makes you Hungry

Belly fat is the fat that pushes your waist out. Losing abdominal fat is important because your health will improve. I'll explain one of the newest research reasons why carrying extra belly weight is so bad.


Scientists from the Lawson health Research Institute (part of the University of Western Ontario) believe that they have found the reason that people with extra belly fat are hungrier than others. According to their study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), fat cells around the abdomen produce an appetite-inducing hormone known as Neuropeptide Y (NPY).

Appetite Stimulating Hormone Production

Researchers have always believed that only the brain produces the hormone NPY. But leading study author Dr. Kaiping Yang, found that the abdominal fat in obese rats also produced the hormone. If Neuropeptide from belly fat makes it into the blood stream and to the brain, it could explain why some people just get fatter and fatter.

NPY causes fatter people to eat in excess in response of the released hormone because it is the most potent appetite-stimulating hormone known. It sends signals to the individual that they are constantly hungry.

The appetite hormone also induces fat cell production by stimulating the replication of fat cell precursor cells. The precursor cells then change into fat cells around the belly thus causing a vicious cycle of overeating, getting fatter and then getting hungrier which in turn causes overeating.

Feed the Muscle Lose The Fat

The Magic Diet Pill

Experts have already announced that if they can understand how this appetite inducing hormone works, it might lead to drugs that can stop its effects by blocking neuropetide production in fat cells. "If you can detect NPY early and identify those at risk for abdominal obesity, we can then target therapy to turn off NPY," Yang said. "It would be much easier to use drugs to prevent obesity than to treat the diseases caused by obesity."

Abdominal Fat Health Risks

Excessive belly fat carries other health risks because it accumulates around the internal organs. It has also been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and numerous cancers. You may think belly fat is limited to the stuff out front that you can grab with your hand — but it's the fat you can't see that's really a cause for concern. Visceral fat lies deeper inside the abdomen, surrounding the abdominal organs. Gaining this type of fat has been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other health problems. Subcutaneous fat, located between the skin and the abdominal wall, is more visible but also less likely to be a health risk.

An interesting point to ponder: There are varying factors (physical and psychological) that effect every individual's battle of the bulge but should the responsiblity of eating a healthy diet and doing some form of exercise be magically replaced with a hormone altering wonder drug? Abdominal fat seems to have an amplifying effect on weight gain. So logically, people that are more likely to put on abdominal weight should be more careful in their eating habits. You may be unfortunate enough to have a slow metabolism and overactive secretion of NPY, but weight doesn't accumulate magically. The building block is food and it's ultimately your choice to eat.

Abdominal fat is one of the hardest "fat areas" to deal with but with all the health risks it carries it's worth doing something about it. There are numerous strategies for banishing belly fat. Some are as simple as adding certain foods to your diet, or doing particular exercises but if you can do both then you're on the right path. Losing belly fat is one of the most important steps you can take to stay healthy for life.

Read about the only way to lose the fat and keep your muscle

Top of Belly Fat Article

Detox for Life Homepage