Belly Fat is Where the Danger Hangs

While you stare forlornly at your midsection in the mirror it’s important to remember that, according to a new extensive study, the size of your gut hang has implications for your health. This seems obvious, but read on for details. It turns out that genetics play a big role in the size of our belly.

Researchers came up with a pretty ingenious way to see how abdominal obesity is linked to things like diabetes and heart disease. They collected genomic data and health information for over 400,000 people and began to drill down into how people who actually were genetically designed to have bigger bellies were at risk for those diseases.

And what they found was that people who had those genetic markers had a 77% greater chance of having diabetes and were nearly twice as likely to get heart disease. They also found connections to higher cholesterol and blood pressure. That means that when you factor out diet and exercise just the likelihood of belly fat itself means you may be unhealthier.

Is this another example of how we can’t beat our genes? Of course not. Instead this shows that people who end up with those love handles a little easier than others may have to work harder at keeping those pounds off. It is not an easy task, but thinning your waistline means a lot for your overall health.

-Shane M.