Importance of waist size for general health

How you can lose weight easier

In this article, we discuss some of the reasons that your waist size is important and some of the basic ways to help reduce your waist size and lose weight.
Your weight and your body fat storage are two key things which impact not only your waist size but your general health. If you have too much body fat stored around your waist, then your chances of developing a serious health issue may increase drastically.

What studies have told us over the years

Jean Vague, a physician in France, produced a study over 60 years ago. During this study, he focused on individuals who had larger waists and discovered that these people had a higher risk of contracting a cardiovascular disease than those who had smaller waists, or who had more body fat stored in their thighs and hips.
Several years after this study, numerous long-term studies were produced which indicated that individuals who had larger waists (something which was commonly referred to as “abdominal obesity”) were actually more likely to encounter an even wider range of health issues. Type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or even death.
Having a body shaped like an apple is the outcome of “abdominal obesity” and over the years, we’ve seen that this is more commonly found to occur in men rather than women. On the other hand, women’s bodies tend to store fat near their thighs and their hips; resulting in a body shaped like a pear.

Abdominal fat storage and your health

“Why does abdominal fat storage cause an increased risk of certain health issues?”
Visceral fat – fat which is located near and around your abdominal organs – releases fluids which can harm your organs. Fluids such as hormones, inflammatory agents and fatty acids are all very harmful to your organs and can lead to a higher blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a wide range of health problems.

Measure Your Waist

The best way to find out if you have too much abdominal fat storage is to simply measure your waist. By doing this regularly and working to eliminate some of your abdominal fat, you could prevent yourself from some serious health issues.
While having a healthy BMI is a good thing if you still have some abdominal fat which you could do without, there are still health risks.
If you want to measure your waist, simply:

locate the top of your hipbone and your bottom rib, and place your finger somewhere in the middle of these two places;
take a deep breath, and breathe out without forcing out the breath;
place a measuring tape around your waist where you have your finger, and take note of the measurement.
Once you have measured your weight, you are now able to determine whether or not you should lose some of your abdominal fat to benefit your health.

Men: 37 Inches (94 cm) or above
Women: 31.5 Inches (80 cm) or above
then you should look into weight loss.

Men: 40 Inches (102 cm) or above
Women: 24 Inches (88 cm) or above
then you are at a high risk of contracting some of the health issues which we previously discussed and should contact your doctor as soon as possible.

Losing Abdominal Weight

The majority of people who are overweight will find that if they alter their diet to be healthier and incorporate some light exercise into their daily routines, they’ll gradually lose weight over time and will be on a healthier path. That being said, there are genetic reasons for being overweight too.

Typically, weight gain is due to us eating more calories than our bodies are processing. So, if you do not do some kind of fiscal activity, the more that you eat, the more fat is being stored.
As we said above, in some cases, being overweight may be down to a genetic issue in which case, you may struggle to lose weight and in some cases, you will gain fat especially around abdominal muscles, it’s called abdominal obesity.

However, science is progressing very fast in our age, and thanks to that you are now able to find genetic tests at a very fair price range. Once you find out what your genotype is, you will be able to combat the effects of an undesirable gene by following a diet and working out according to your gene variation.

Have you struggled to lose weight in the past and are concerned that it may be a genetic problem? Find out what your genotype is, and you may find yourself losing weight easier that you thought it would be.