What are the Main Causes of Belly Fat?

LAST UPDATED: May 25th, 2022

Belly fat isn’t just an aesthetic problem.

It can endanger your health too.

I already wrote about the best ways to lose belly fat.

You can read more about that here.

Today, I am gonna talk about the most common reasons that lead to belly fat.

Even skinny people can be at risk of heart diseases if they have belly fat.

Belly fat is connected with releasing proteins in your body that cause inflammations, and it may lead to arteries and liver damage.

It can also cause a change in the way your body uses sugar and fat.

Of course, belly fat is often related to those extra pounds. (1)

6 Main Causes of Belly Fat

1. Stress

You may think this is absurd, but stress really leads to gaining weight.

Anxiety can produce extra cortisol, a hormone that can be the reason why your body stores fat.

Try to take a few minutes break after working for half an hour, concentrate on breathing and relaxing.

Of course, walk a few times per week in nature.

2. Eating unhealthy foods

Belly fat is one of the pointers that something isn’t working well, but it’s not that easy to fix it.

One of the main reasons for piled-up fat are refined sugars that are a source of simple carbs.

If you don’t want belly fat you need to avoid delicatessen, sweets, and salad dressings.

Start by cutting down on these ingredients and gradually eliminate them from your diet.

You’ll see the results around your belly pretty fast.

You should also avoid sodas and diet sodas, too.

They also lead to weight gain.

It takes only a glass or two per day to end up with belly fat.

Bottom line: Reduce the intake of carbs so that you reduce the number of calories and sugars that turn into fat layers.

Cut out fast food, greasy food, and eat more fruit, vegetables, food high in fiber.

A diet low in fiber is one of the reasons for weight gain.

3. Drinking too much alcohol

Alcohol is fat-free, but when your body absorbs it your metabolism slows down and that’s not good if you want to lose weight.

Your metabolism breaks down fat more slowly and fat piles up around the belly.

You should avoid beer especially.

4. A lack of physical activity

People are less and less active and the number of obese people increases. (2)

You need to do crunches if you want a flat belly and you need to work on the core and the pelvic muscles, too.

They give your body support and they are necessary for moving your body.

You can read more about the best workouts for strong abs and core here.

5. Genes

We can’t talk about our bodies without mentioning genes.

If everyone in your family has an apple-shaped body, you need to be careful with what you eat and you need to exercise.

Want does an apple-shaped body mean?

If you have a wide torso and fat usually piles up around your belly, you probably have an apple-shaped body.

6. Sleep deprivation

If you don’t sleep enough your metabolism can slow down because your body keeps the energy and stimulates the cells to pile up fat.

Sleeping 5 hours or less per night can cause belly fat.

On the other hand, sleeping more than 8 hours can also cause weight gain.

There is no good explanation for that, it simply means that we have less time to be active and to burn calories.

If you want to burn belly fat faster, you can read more about the best natural supplements for weight loss – PhenQ.

This supplement will help you lose belly fat and those extra pounds.

Read more about PhenQ here.