Got A Big Belly? The Good News and The Bad News…
The good news: you probably won’t remember it.
Which brings us to the bad news: a big belly in mid-life raises your risk of dementia later on.
Here’s the really frightening part: it doesn’t matter if you’re overweight or not.
Even people who aren’t overweight have a greater risk for dementia later in life if they store a lot of fat in their abdomens.
For 16% of you in your 40’s with a big belly, it will take an average of 36 years before you’ll be diagnosed with dementia.
That’s according to a study of over 6500 people who were 40 to 45 years old. The study was done by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA.
A big belly was defined as 10 inches or more when measured from your back to the surface of your upper abdomen.
The scientists don’t know why belly fat is linked to dementia.
But a big belly has been previously linked with a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Maybe that has something to do with it.
When compared to people with a normal weight and belly size:
• You’re 2.3 times more likely to develop dementia if you’re overweight and have a big belly…
• You’re 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia if you’re obese and have a big belly…
• You’re 80% more likely to develop dementia if you’re overweight or obese, but you do NOT have a big belly…
• You’re almost 90% more likely to develop dementia if you are normal weight and have a big belly…
Yikes! Better start working on those abs.
If you’ve got a big belly, you have less than 36 years or until the next study comes out that refutes this one.
Seriously, though, there are enough studies linking high abdominal fat to illness that it’s worth taking action or at least seeking your doctor’s opinion as to what to do.
[tags]abdominal fat, big belly, losing weight, obesity, overweight[tags]
