The Star talks to four doctors, a registered dietitian and a personal trainer (me!) to get the skinny on belly fat. Learn the best ways to get rid of your belly fat today!

Favourite pair of high-waisted jeans feeling snug?

If your spare tire is indeed expanding, there may be cause for concern — but not because your pants don’t fit.

The Star spoke with four obesity experts — Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, author of Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa; Dr. Paul Poirier, a cardiologist and professor of pharmacy at Laval University; Dr. Fahad Razak, an internist at St Michael’s Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s department of medicine; and Dr. Sonia Anand, professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University — as well as registered dietitian Abby Langer and personal trainer and fitness writer Kathleen Trotter to gain insight into what stomach fat is, how it gets there, why it’s dangerous and what you can do about it.

What is abdominal obesity?

Abdominal obesity — also known as central or visceral obesity — refers to a disproportionate gain of fat within the abdomen, relative to other parts of the body, said Razak. Doctors gauge abdominal obesity by measuring a patient’s waist circumference. If a man’s waist measures more than 102 centimetres, or a woman’s measures more than 88 centimetres, then the patient is considered abdominally obese. However, that threshold doesn’t work for everyone and may be too high for people from certain ethnic groups — such as South Asian populations — who tend to have smaller builds and tend to carry fat in their stomach, he said.

The fat tissue itself is actually two types of fat: subcutaneous fat, located just below the skin; and visceral fat, stored in the abdomen and around the internal organs.

What causes it and who gets it?

There are several reasons a person would be predisposed to gain weight in their stomach.

In the battle of the sexes, men are more likely to be abdominally obese than women, said Anand. But once women are post-menopausal and losing estrogen, they may be just as likely to grow larger bellies, she said.

South Asian populations tend to be more prone to developing visceral fat, said Anand, whose research focuses on people of this demographic. She said when a South Asian person is taking in more calories than they’re burning, it appears they initially store the fat in subcutaneous fat stores — located just under the skin — but those stores don’t expand as much as other ethnic groups, so the excess fatty acid then turns into visceral fat. In contrast, Caucasians tend to expand fat stores throughout the body, she said. “You tend to see someone who is (Caucasian and) fat all over, whereas in South Asians we typically see the skinny legs, skinny arms and then a lot of central fat,” she said.

And then there’s body shape. Whether you have a pear shape — meaning you carry more weight in your hips — or apple shape — meaning you carry weight in your stomach — comes down to genetics.

What are the health risks?

The subcutaneous fat just underneath the skin is not the dangerous fat. But usually, if someone has an excess of stomach fat, they have an excess of visceral fat too, said Poirier. It’s that visceral fat, the fat tissues that surround your internal organs, including the heart, liver, kidneys and stomach, that can lead to organ malfunction, he said.

The visceral fat also produces a molecule called adipokine, which is proinflammatory and circulates around the body, said Poirier. When someone has low-grade inflammation, they’re more prone to coronary artery disease, gingivitis and other health issues, he said.

But the main health concerns are: diabetes, cholesterol abnormalities and heart disease, said Razak. Because abdominal fat is more metabolically active, that can affect a body’s hormones and insulin control more than fat in other parts of the body, he said. Abdominal fat can also contribute to elevated levels of bad cholesterol and depressed levels of good cholesterol, he said.

Also, a 2015 U.S. study suggested that a person with excess belly fat who has a normal body mass index (or BMI, which is calculated by dividing weight by height squared, using metric measurements) is at greater risk of dying than someone with overall obesity.

What can you do about it?

The simple answer? Lose weight.

“The best way of losing fat in your abdomen is losing weight overall,” said Razak. He recommends people adopt tried and true weight loss measures: reduce calorie intake, increase fruit and vegetable intake, increase fibre intake, reduce intake of saturated and trans fats. Exercise.

Registered dietitian Langer agrees: “I would tell people to clean up their diet,” she said.

Bariatric surgery — a procedure reserved for people with extreme obesity who’ve failed in other attempts to lose weight — could also help to shrink a patient’s stomach and improve overall health, despite being an extreme step, said Razak.

Busting myths about belly fat

Can you really lose 12 inches off your waist by doing this one trick celebrities love?

No.

“Unfortunately, there is a lot of push towards unrealistic expectations and suggestions out there in this industry,” said Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, author of Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa.

So don’t get sucked in by popup ads or dubious write-ups claiming to give you overnight abs — read these myth busters instead.

Myth 1: Beer causes beer bellies.

Busted: It’s not the beer, but the calories in the beer, said Dr. Sonia Anand, professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University. “If your excess calories come because you drink 12 beers on the weekend … and you have a genetic propensity to store your fat centrally, then beer will be bad for you. But it seems to be an overall energy in, energy out phenomenon,” she said.

There is, however, an added risk when it comes to mixing beer with “beer bellies.” People with abdominal obesity already have a higher risk of fatty liver, and that, combined with high alcohol intake, will stress your liver out more, in turn increasing your risk of chronic liver disease, Anand said.

Myth 2: Spot reduction workouts can shrink your belly.

Busted: Not so, says Freedhoff. “There’s no such thing as spot reduction. Not by exercise and not by diet plans.” If you do start to lose weight and continue to lose it, you will eventually lose body weight everywhere, he said, but there’s no way to direct where you lose that weight from. “Where your body puts your weight is to a large degree beyond your control,” said Freedhoff. “There are apples and pears (body types) walking the planet, not because apples live differently than pears generally, but simply because of the way they were built in the first place.”

Furthermore, it’s not exercise, but nutrition, that will best help you achieve weight loss goals. “You can work out for 45 hours a day and it’s not going to make a difference unless you eat well,” says Kathleen Trotter, a personal trainer and fitness writer.

Myth 3: Cutting out specific foods from your diet can give you a flab-free tummy.

Busted: Well, debatable. While some research shows diets high in simple carbohydrates — such as white bread and sugary desserts — can contribute to abdominal obesity, that’s not been 100 per cent proven, said Anand. Instead, overall good nutrition is what you should be focusing on to lose body weight, says Trotter. “The three best things for losing fat are nutrition, nutrition, nutrition,” she said.

Originally published at TORONTOSTAR