Belly Fat and Heart Disease

More and more information is being gathered to show the dangers of carrying more ‘belly fat'. (visceral fat or intra-abdominal fat are other ways to describe it). The danger likely is related to the release of a profound number of inflammatory bio-proteins that each fat cell releases into the blood stream. These are referred to as adipokines (adipo simple means fat). Disease such as coronary disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis, cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure are but a few that are directly caused or worsened by the release of these adipokines-there may be even some evidence of a link to these and asthma).

Another study showing this link from belly fat to disease was reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology in December of 2006.

They showed that a bigger belly may mean a greater risk of heart disease. Researchers studied 101,765 people who underwent measurements of their sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) as part of their checkups between 1965 and 1970. SAD, measured with a caliper, represents the distance from the back to the upper abdomen, halfway between the top of the pelvis and the bottom of the rib cage. The study found that men with the largest SAD had a 43 % increased risk of developing heart disease during the 12 year follow up period, compared with men with the smallest SAD. The association between SAD and heart disease held true independent of another obesity measure, body mass index (BMI). The researchers found that even normal weight men with larger bellies were at increased risk for heart diseases.