Belly Fat Carries an Increased Risk for Major Diseases

The cut-off point that increases your risk is 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men at the waistline. The risk is for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease. The risk is higher if your weight is in the belly, rather than the hips and legs. The mechanism lies with certain hormones, such as insulin and estrogen, and alterations in triglycerides. The cure is with diet and exercise. Kerry Stewart and associates of Johns Hopkins Medical School found that a healthy low carb diet might be more effective than other weight loss regimes for belly fat. If you do everything right and still do not lose, the HCG diet almost always works (500 calories a day for 23-40 days, and you don’t usually get hungry). See AARP Bulletin, July/Aug, 2012 issue, p. 8-13. www.healthcelebration.com