Pot bellies!!!, Pot bellies!!, Pot bellies!.
One of today's most annoying body disorder. You see people at the gym going at the machine with extra vigor just to lessen that belly fat, WELL DONE to you guys because you're doing your body a huge favour.

You probably don't think it's a complicated disorder, but believe me, it is not a good thing to have and efforts must be doubled on reducing belly fat.

Many of my friends complain about their fathers having pot belies, scared of it being an inheritable trait, boy does it not look good on thin people. Well, read through and find out.

In many tribes in Africa, pot belies are signs of maturity, indicating that one is a big man, creepy right?

Pot belly is even seen as warm and friendly, even the great santa claus had pot belly, but this pot belly is actually dangerous.

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Let's Have A Clear Definition Of What A Pot Belly Is

The abdomen covers the trunk, the trunk houses various internal organs including the Liver, spleen, Stomach, intestines, A pair of kidneys and so on. The abdomen is made of muscles and fat that come that come together to form a wall (abdominal wall).

It is very normal to have fat in this wall, the problem only arise when there is too much and in the wrong place.

There are two (2) types of fat in this wall namely;

Subcutaneous
The subcutaneous (under the skin) is the fat that we can touch because it is immediately under the skin and doesn't really cause much harm. It is also call it "Passive fat"

Visceral Fat
this is the fat found between the internal organs and poses a lot of threat to the body. It acts like a gland because it breaks down to release energy and hormones for the liver to metabolize which is not supposed to be so. And when it does the liver starts misbehaving leading to several problems, pot belly.

Let's first talk about how pot belies are formed.

Pot belies are formed when there is more than enough fat in the body, more than the body can store normally, leading to distributing the excess fat in other areas of the body. And the most available place in the body that can store excess fats for men is the belly, yes, the belly, that outer surface of the stomach, intestines, where we call stomach in lay man language.

Diagnosing Pot Belly

Now, I said that pot bellies are results of storage of excess fat, there is still the fact that once the belly is full, the body still tries to store the fats in other areas of the body. That is why it is advisable that the more a man grows and eat, the more he should be exercise, if not, it could be super dangerous. Leading to disorders like heart diseases, high blood pressure and other related fat disorders.

It is not applicable to women except some in their old ages because they stop producing oestrogen when they reach menopause. Due to the fact that they produce oestrogen that allows them to store fat in their hips and legs, and use it during pregnancy.

But don't let us forget the fact that women that produce more than the normal level of testosterone and those that do not produce enough oestrogen are also at high risks of having pot bellies.

So To The Question Of "If Pot Bellies Are Inheritable"

Speculations are still going on as to the fact that pot bellies are inheritable. Pot bellies are mostly excess fat stored in the most easy place that the body presumes, so if a father happens to have pot belly, and he does not exercise, keeps on taking in more fat regardless of the fact that he is putting hid next generation in danger, the chances of the son having it increases by 50% if he does as his father did, (living the same lifestyle his father did).

There is also the talk of the type of body you inherit from your parents. People that are apple-shaped are more likely to have more fat at their mid-section. But the pear shaped people are likely to have more fat at their waist and hips.

Some research even showed that people that are slender and have pot belies are at more risks of diabetes that those that are obese because their bellies might not be able to expand and this could lead to a serious problem because the fat would surely affect a lot of internal organs.

This is no prove as to whether it is inheritable or not, but if you come to think of it, people with dads that have pot belies that got it either as a result of the fact that their fathers are too preoccupied or too lazy to exercise, consume a lot of junk foods or drink a lot of alcohol, tend to inherit these traits (laziness and all)*, and when they do, they are sure to inherit the pot belly as well

Note: This is my view, which is not scientifically proven but common sense proven.

Possible Problems Caused By Pot Bellies

dementia
osteoporosis
heart disease
high blood pressure
Diabetes (all types)

For a while now, endocrinologists have related obesity to high level of cortisol in the human blood, but this fact has recently been discarded because after examining obese people, they found out that most people that are obese actually have a low level of cortisol activity in their body system.

So in efforts of producing a possible treatment for this treatment, they found an enzyme 11b hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11b HSD-1) in th body that actually regenerates the cortisol (a stress hormone) from its inactive form.

This enzyme needs to be supressed for fat to reduce in the body and there are some antidiabetic drugs that supresses 11b HSD-1 in fat cells. You can ask your Pharmacists for those drugs or better still consult your doctor.

Managing/ Reducing Pot Belly

The most effective way to reduce belly fat is to take more fibers, exercise regularly.

Working out for about 30 mins per day is one healthy way of reducing belly fat and don't forget that working only on your mid-section is not healthy as this only cause more problems for you.
And do you know the funniest part, the first type of fat to disappear when you start exercising is the visceral fat that causes the pot belly.

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Reducing pot belly takes time , but at the end it pays off because you would have saved yourself from a lot health related diseases that are very harmful

Taking in a lot of fibers and good fat is another way as this reduces the bad and excess fat in your body.

And always remember that the mind is a very powerful tool that when used wisely could yield a lot of good results.

A little about me
I'm a biochemistry graduate from Nigeria and I would like to help the world anyway I can, even if it means sitting behind the computer for long hours to make a post that's very educative.