Originally published August 30 2012
Excess belly fat - How it happens and how to get rid of it for good
by PF Louis
(NaturalNews) General obesity is an epidemic. But it's possible to experience belly fat without being generally obese with fat enlarged torso, arms, and legs that demand waddling while walking. Your arms, upper torso, face, and legs can appear normal with an extended belly and expanded waistline.
Beer bellies are often wheat bellies. This can result from eating wheat products, even whole grain, with its high glycemic index (GI). Today's wheat has been transformed into a nutritionally weakened hybrid that contains 10 times more gluten than the wheat of a half-century ago.
Even for those who don't have extreme wheat/gluten sensitivity or Celiac disease, one can surpass his or her capacity for digesting gluten, leading to that wheat belly. (http://www.naturalnews.com/036845_wheat_belly_weight_gain_gluten.html)
Wait, there's more!
So you've cut back on wheat and even avoided gluten-free products that contain potato starch and tapioca, both high GI substances. But the waistline remains the same.
Stress affects your hormones. Cortisol comes from the same gland that provides adrenaline for short-term reactions to perceived dangers. But cortisol is produced from chronic stress without any real outlet. It can build up, cause hormonal imbalances and create a suddenly bulging belly.
For women who experience an estrogen imbalance, too high or low, the belly can bulge also. For men, it's testosterone deficiencies that can bring on the beer belly. Stress can also influence the sex hormones. So a simple solution, in addition to excluding gluten to some extent, would be reducing stress.
Diet still remains important. Organic foods with lots of greens while abstaining from processed and junk foods goes a long way to both reducing the waistline and stress. Intense exercise may be fun for some, but how many who practice hatha yoga have beer/wheat bellies, hmm?
Focusing on stress reduction
Sometimes stress is handled by eating "comfort foods" that are high in simple, processed carbs and sugars and bad fats, creating a vicious big belly cycle. So there need to be other options for reducing the stress that directs fat to the belly and promotes indulging in comfort foods.
An important method for eliminating stress is getting enough high quality sleep. Even if you're in bed for eight hours nightly, you may not be getting even close that much quality sleep. The key word is quality. (http://www.naturalnews.com/026637_sleep_health_immune_system.html)
Difficulty falling asleep, getting up often, waking up easily and often from restlessness all make the process of an immune enhancing quality sleep impossible. Save your coffee for the morning hours. Maybe some chamomile tea late in the evening would help.
Relax before hitting the sack with a pleasurable activity. Better yet, meditate or practice the corpse pose of yoga where you relax every part of your body until you achieve a totally tranquil state of relaxation. (http://suite101.com)
Make sure your bedroom is completely dark. No lights of any kind anywhere, and a little on the cool side, around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This is an ideal sleep environment.
Melatonin supplements, especially sub-lingual, can help you fall asleep. Start at three mg and experiment for the right dose, anywhere from one to ten mg. Too much leaves you rested but groggy upon awakening.
Cut out unnecessary stress. In this modern culture of political correctness and self-defeating politeness, we sometimes take on tasks that are not necessary for our survival or our best interests. Too many demanded tasks and frivolous meetings create unnecessary stress.
In other words, allow yourself to enjoy being you. Walks in nature, an occasional picnic, time spent listening to good music are a few examples of ways to eliminate stress without resorting to excess alcohol or comfort food binging.
Sources for this article include:
http://excelonhealth.com/wordpress/2012/05/battling-the-belly-fat/
http://www.differencebetween.net
http://excelonhealth.com/wordpress/2010/12/sleep-like-a-champion/
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