We hear constantly that patients have historically struggled with finding solutions to remove their stomach fat for years. Specifically, a lot of patients say that they seem to struggle with the accumulation of belly fat in their midsection more than any other area of the body! Our weight wellness program is designed to help to remove and address belly fat.
There are a few scientific explanations for more fat in the stomach or midsection area that include genetics, lifestyle choices, and hormonal changes that may contribute to belly fat accumulation.
- Insulin resistance can also lead to excess weight around the belly. That's when cells in muscles, fat, and the liver don't respond to insulin as they should. This forces the pancreas to make extra insulin. Insulin resistance is sometimes a precursor to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. The medications we use in our program directly target and correct insulin resistance.
- Thyroid hormones, particularly free triiodothyronine (FT3), play a role in abdominal fat distribution. An imbalance in thyroid hormones can lead to hormonal belly or weight gain in general. Our program can work hand in hand in the treatment of thyroid conditions.
- Cortisol, a glucocorticoid hormone which is also known as the stress hormone, can and does affect your metabolism and just about every function in your body. Chronic exposure to high levels of cortisol can cause fat to redistribute to the abdomen, also known as cortisol belly – because excess cortisol stimulates glucose production which is then typically converted into fat, which gets stored in your body. Overstimulated glucose production can also lead to insulin resistance. Weight gain can be very cyclical once it kicks off. Cortisol can also increase your appetite for energy-dense "comfort" foods. We’ve seen significant lowering of cortisol levels for patients on our program.
- Perimenopause can also cause weight gain in the belly and it’s so common that it actually has a name – "menopause belly." As estrogen levels drop, subcutaneous (under the skin) fat is redistributed to abdominal fat. After menopause, there's a significant increase in visceral fat (the fat that wraps around abdominal organs). Our programs works extremely well for women in perimenopause and menopause and our solutions can provide relief for a variety of aspects of menopause.
- Some people are genetically predisposed to store fat in certain areas, such as the abdomen. A twin study found that genetic factors account for most of the variation in abdominal fat in non-obese people. These inherited issues range from insulin resistance to non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus to dyslipidemia to cardiovascular disease, and likely more. And while these conditions can be acquired non-genetically, even if you’re doing most everything right, you cannot outrun genetics sometimes. Unfortunately, this can come into play as early as early childhood. A 2007 from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London found that genetic influences on BMI and abdominal adiposity are high in children and while most of the genetic effect on abdominal fat is common to BMI, 40% is attributable to independent genetic influences and environmental effects are small and are divided approximately equally between shared and nonshared effects.
What does all of this mean?
Truthfully, it means that belly fat is likely cyclical with a mixed root cause that teeters between internal factors like genetics and hormones and the external environmental choices that those factors tend to have us make. TLDR: when genetics and internal hormones are working against you, there’s likely not much you can do to remove that belly fat without medical intervention.
Surgically, there is not a case to be made for solutions of fat removal, especially if you have above a 30 BMI. Other minimally invasive surgical procedures that have popped up over the last few years do not have significant evidence of working long term.
Our weight wellness program has seen patients lose upwards of 30% + of their body weight. Our average loss after one year on the program tops 22% loss of weight, while the studies topped out around 17% and most practices see that percentage or even less. Much of the weight loss seen in our practice is the removal of belly fat.
Interested in learning more about how our weight wellness program can help you? Email us at info@theaestheticconcierge.co or book an appointment here.
