{"id":1988,"date":"2009-05-19T13:29:07","date_gmt":"2009-05-19T18:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=1988"},"modified":"2021-09-20T12:01:12","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T17:01:12","slug":"where-did-this-tummy-fat-come-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/19\/where-did-this-tummy-fat-come-from","title":{"rendered":"Where Did This Tummy Fat Come From?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here<\/a> for the Health Tip link.

Now that the swine flu<\/a> appears to be playing itself out, we can take up a health concern that I am asked about at least ten times a week, always by women and always with various degrees of desperation in their voices.

\u201cI never had this before!,\u201d she\u2019ll say, pointing to some midsection roundness (some will prod it, others jiggle it slightly). \u201cI look pregnant!\u201d (forgetting how pregnant women actually look). \u201cDo I have a tumor? I know it\u2019s not gas\u2026\u201d

Given the number of before-and-after advertisements I see online offering the \u201csecret\u201d to a flat abdomen (a single, non-calorie-burning mouse click away), it appears we\u2019re in some sort of a pouch epidemic threatening the well-being of Western womanhood.

Getting rid of the tummy is your job. Explaining it is mine:
\u2022 It\u2019s easier to gain weight as we get older simply because our metabolism slows down. Conversely, you may have noticed, it is harder to lose weight with the usually effective combination of exercise and calorie restriction.
\u2022 With aging, starting in your thirties, muscle mass diminishes, replaced by (guess what?) fat.
\u2022 Genetically, some people gain weight in their abdominal areas, while others gain it in their hips and buttocks.
\u2022 The real villain accelerating weight gain in the tummy is stress.

Here\u2019s why\u2026

The negative mental energy of chronic stress–worrying about a terrible job, bad relationship, the economy, your tummy itself–activates your brain to stimulate two stress-responding glands, your adrenals (two walnut sized glands sitting one each atop your kidneys) and your thyroid (in your neck). When your fight-or-flight response is triggered, to escape some sudden threat against you such as a mugger, both glands speed their hormone release to put your body into temporary overdrive and get you out of the scary situation.

However, if mental stress goes on non-stop, these glands become fatigued.

With thyroid fatigue, your metabolism slows down, you feel cold, you put on weight, and you\u2019re too tired to exercise. With adrenal fatigue, you\u2019re not only tired, but your energy level crashes at about 3 pm every afternoon.

The adrenal response to life\u2019s stresses occurs in two phases. First, a burst of adrenalin to initiate the adrenalin rush, triggered by something that really blew your mind (the child support check bounced). It generally lasts a few seconds (\u201cI was so mad I felt my heart was pounding through my chest.\u201d). With more protracted stress (\u201cevery day at the office is sheer Hell\u201d), a second adrenal hormone, cortisol, takes over, churning out for weeks and weeks, until it too finally depletes (adrenal fatigue).

The cortisol sets in motion some changes in your body that are called \u201cprimitive,\u201d meaning that while they may be useful in the long-term stress situations for mammals and Neanderthals, they are less useful if you\u2019re a working woman. One primitive message from cortisol: \u201cPrepare for danger! Food is going to be scarce,\u201d as it issues a directive to your metabolism to prepare for starvation.

This message has a twofold result. First, you want to eat more food (ever notice you eat more when stressed?). And second, it signals your body not to burn those precious calories, instead storing them as high-energy fat in case actual starvation hits the herd\/tribe. Hoard the fat where it can be used (it\u2019s soft fat, did you notice, the kind that\u2019s burned first) and keep it portable in case the herd\/tribe has to move to a new location. That\u2019s why your fat is stored in your tummy, rather than your legs.

Sometimes these primitive physiologic reflexes can be so annoying.

Interestingly, this sequence of events is exactly what occurs when people are given high doses of the medication prednisone, a potent synthetic form of cortisone. Patients get very hungry when taking prednisone, and after a few weeks can feel their belts tighten as their midsections expand.

So the very first question I ask my patient sitting across from me, either prodding angrily at her tummy or grabbing it with both hands and jiggling, is \u201cSo what kind of stress have you been under for the past year?\u201d

Frozen like a deer in headlights, eyes widen, \u201cHorrible! It\u2019s been a terrible year.\u201d

Next time: what to do about your burgeoning tummy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here for the Health Tip link. Now that the swine flu appears to be playing itself out, we can take up a health concern that I am asked about at least ten times a week, always by women and always with various degrees of desperation in their voices. \u201cI never had this before!,\u201d she\u2019ll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2087,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,45,3,62,27],"tags":[1039,469,221,253,511,1040],"class_list":["post-1988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-f","category-knowledge-base","category-t","category-weight-issues","tag-calories","tag-cortisol","tag-exercise","tag-fat","tag-hypothyroidism","tag-tummy-fat"],"yoast_head":"\r\nWhere Did This Tummy Fat Come From?<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With thyroid fatigue, your metabolism slows down, you feel cold, you put on weight, and you\u2019re too tired 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