The extra fat we carry around our middle could be making us hungrier, so we eat more, which in turn leads to even more belly fat, a new study warns.
Stomach fat tissue reproduces a hormone that is the most potent appetite stimulator known, according to researchers at Canada’s University of Western Ontario. They hope this discovery will change the way we think about and treat abdominal obesity.
The traditional view is that one of the main reasons why overweight people eat more food is because their brains produce the hormone Neuropeptide Y (NPY) in excessive amounts – now it seems their stomach fat is producing it too. NPY is the most potent appetite stimulating hormone known, sending signals to the individual that they are constantly hungry. And NPY also increases fat cells.
“This may lead to a vicious cycle where NPY produced in the brain causes you to eat more and therefore gain more fat around your middle, and then that fat produces more NYP hormone which leads to even more fat cells,” says researcher Dr. Yaiping Yang.
“We want to know if NPY could potentially be transported in the blood to the brain where it in turn has an impact on the brain to stimulate feelings of hunger,” says Yang.
If the researchers find that NPY is in fact transported in the blood circulation then it may be possible to develop a simple blood test to detect increased levels of NPY.
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“If you can detect NPY early and identify those at risk for abdominal obesity we can then target therapy to turn off NPY,” cocluded Yang. “It would be much easier to use drugs to prevent obesity than to treat the diseases caused by obesity.”
Being overweight, regardless of where the fat is located, is unhealthy. However, because of its anatomical location and its byproducts, abdominal fat or the apple-shape is known to be the most dangerous. People predisposed to the apple shape are at an elevated risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers. To find out more about the dangers of being an apple shape, and what you can do to lose your spare tyre, Click Here.