关于肚皮脂肪的健康危害when it comes to coronary artery disease and cardiovascular issues, and researchers believe the association might be related to blood sugar processing and inflammation.
But it isn’t only your heart and arteries that can be affected by those changes in your abdominal region — your brain could be struggling as well.
BIG BELLY, SMALLER BRAIN?
Researchers recently looked at whether obesity — defined bybody mass index (BMI)和waist-to-hip ratio— affected the amount of white and gray brain matter, as well as overall volume, in various parts of the brain.
Examining data from nearly 10,000 people with an average age of 55, researchers compiled physical measurements, health surveys and MRI results. Theyfoundthat after adjusting for factors that may affect brain volume — such as age, smoking, exercise levels and high blood pressure — those who had a high BMI and a high waist-to-hip ratio had the lowest volume of gray matter.
Interestingly, those with a high BMI but normal waist-to-hip ratio had more brain volume, but still not as much as those with both a normal BMI and a normal waist-to-hip ratio.
这意味着那些腹部脂肪量更高的人的大脑数量最少，根据该研究的首席作者，英格兰拉夫堡大学的主要作者Mark Hamer博士。
为什么腹部脂肪是一种危险
Why would fat around the belly area be more dangerous than, say, fat around thighs? It’s because the way belly fat works is different than what’s in other locations around the body.
“Abdominal fat produces a substance called cytokines,” Hamer says. “These are small proteins involved in cell signaling and immune response, and when you have too many, it canincrease inflammation.”
这种炎症反应has been shown对神经递质等神经递质产生有害作用，例如5-羟色胺，多巴胺和谷氨酸，以及胰岛素，胰高血糖素和C反应蛋白。所有这些都可以增加brain functionthat can affect mood, hunger signals, stress response and much more.
Also, the recent study highlights the fact inflammation may lower brain volume, and that could have an effect on how your brain operates. Hamer says there’s a strong link between declining brain volume and memory loss, and inflammation is one of the areas doctors look at when diagnosing dementia.
更好的腹部健康
There’s a reason health experts consider reducing belly fat to be the “number 1 priority” for wellness.
Although there’s no such thing as “spot reduction” when it comes to decreasing belly size, there are many strategies you can consider that can shrink that area — and lower your inflammation levels along the way.
哈默说：“保持健康的体重与许多重要的健康结果有关，其中包括大脑健康。”一个好的起点是through healthy eatingthat emphasizes real foods, good fats, less sugar and plenty of fruits and vegetables.
哈默说，运动也至关重要，还有很多研究将更好的大脑功能与更高的活动水平联系起来。此外，他补充说，经常进行更多活动的人也倾向于有更好的习惯使大脑快乐，例如适度的酒精饮食，健康的饮食，血压控制和不吸烟。
DOWN WITH STRESS
Another big component is降低应力水平. According to North Carolina-based dietitian Molly Devine, RD, tension and stress cause the body to take glucose out of your system to use it for perceived threats. When that happens, she says, insulin gets released to deal with all that glucose, and insulin’s favorite storage facility is your abdominal fat.
As anyone who deals with chronic stress knows, the brain can also get frazzled, so focusing on better stress-management techniques is a win for both belly and brain. Devine suggests a good first step for this is creatingregular sleep habits，这对帮助您杀死强调怪物有很长的路要走。
Obviously, belly fat is tricky to whittle, which is why a Google search on “reduce belly fat” comes back with 169 million results. But focusing on eating healthy, moving more and sleeping better can get you started on a smaller-belly track.
