“Cheers! I don’t mind if I…Errr….think about it.’

13 December 22

Lightening the Load, is it time to lose the beer belly?

Increased weight is linked with sedentary work; being sedentary is now being called the ‘new smoking’; check out our blog on ‘every movement counts’. But here we are talking about the problems with carrying excess weight around the abdomen, a ‘beer belly’, and it’s something that we can all do something about.

Isn’t a beer belly something that many blokes develop over time? It’s normal, right?

Well, men are more prone to developing abdominal fat than women; however this does change a little after the menopause, but increased abdominal fat in a beer belly is really nasty stuff. It causes inflammation that significantly increases your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia (now being called ‘type3 diabetes by some specialists’) and stroke.

The fat accumulates around your organs, packs into the liver, and infiltrates the pancreas messing with your insulin production.

High sugar intake and not enough exercise restricts the ability of insulin to shift sugar from your blood into your cells; over time, your body becomes less responsive to insulin, and you become diabetic. Diabetes is one of the commonest causes of heart disease, kidney failure, erectile dysfunction, visual impairment, and amputation in the UK.

High blood sugar makes it difficult to burn fat as the body will use the blood sugar when it needs energy, the body becomes less efficient at burning fat, and so it stores more, making things worse.

Ditch the sugar, and get moving!

There’s a lot of talk about inflammation; how is my beer belly involved?

Remember what the fat is doing; the fat around and in the abdominal organs interferes with their function leading to insulin resistance and widespread inflammation; this inflammation moves throughout the body, causing damage to nerves and arteries, organs and actually damaging joints.

For example, although high cholesterol, high BP and high salt intake are all linked with heart disease, it is the years of inflammation and the insulin resistance which are the greatest killers. And your beer belly is the silent assassin.

What if I’ve got bad knees and I can’t exercise very well?

Ok, so the inflammation is attacking the cartilage in your joints even as you sit. This leads to increased pain in the knees, back, neck and shoulders.

The increased weight that you are carrying also stresses joints more for example, for every 1 Kg on your waist, this increases the stress on the knees by 3-4kg. But sitting won’t make it go away it will make it worse as you lose the supportive muscle strength in your legs and back.

Orthopaedics used to talk about ‘wear and tear’, but now it’s about ‘wear and repair’, so get moving to improve your symptoms.

In the office, use the stairs and a standing desk; there are loads of ‘chair exercises’ on the internet, so there is no excuse not to move more.

I don’t feel strong enough to exercise.

Muscles need to be moved and stressed to build them up, use them or lose them. Muscle loss happens as we age for sure, but combing strength training with a high-protein diet can stop and reverse this process.

Your beer belly is associated with low muscle mass and low testosterone, and testosterone is essential for improved muscle mass, which in turn burns more fat, improving energy, cognition and, of course, your sex life.

Sometimes I don’t feel like moving; I am tired and feel a bit low. What can I do?

Ok, so your beer belly is linked to poor sleep and sleep apnoea which really impacts your physical and mental health. Apnoea is linked to an increased risk of depression, poor concentration, fatigue and an increased risk of accidents. It is linked to heart disease and takes up to 20% off your lifespan.

Combining the inflammation with the insulin resistance and poor sleep increases your risk of getting dementia.

Shifting the Kilos and moving more boosts your happy hormones and improves your sleep. Shrinking the beer belly reduces inflammation and chronic disease, it leads to a longer and healthier life.

In a nutshell.

Reduce the booze, ditch the sugar and limit the carbs, prioritise good protein and veg and get moving to live your best life, looking and feeling great.

© 2022 Dr J Pearson, Chief Medical Officer, Health Drive Digital; all rights reserved