How your waist measurement can predict your risk of heart attack – and tips to trim down
YOUR waist size not your weight could be the key when it comes to your risk of suffering a deadly heart attack, doctors have warned.
Visceral fat - that collects around your tummy - is among the most dangerous kinds of fat.
Carrying extra weight around your tummy is known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease.
Now, a new study has warned that 'middle-aged spread' also puts heart attack survivors at risk of a second attack.
Experts at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that men with a waist measurement of 37ins or more, and women measuring 31ins or more around the middle, were "abdominally obese" - and at greatest risk.
That's because abdominal obesity speeds up the clogging of arteries and increases blood pressure, high blood sugar and insulin resistance.
Scientists are now urging people to blitz belly fat to lower your chances of suffering a heart attack.
Study author Dr Hanieh Mohammadi, said: "Abdominal obesity not only increases your risk for a first heart attack or stroke, but also the risk for recurrent events after the first misfortune.
"Maintaining a healthy waist circumference is important for preventing future heart attacks and strokes regardless of how many drugs you may be taking or how healthy your blood tests are.
"Abdominal obesity can be tackled by eating a healthy and balanced diet and regular physical activity."
Tips to burn belly fat
With belly fat posing a huge danger to your heart, here are five simple lifestyle changes you can make during your day to help you shed belly fat...
1. Improve your sleep
Getting enough shut eye helps blitz body fat - by curbing cravings, keeping your appetite in check and giving you the energy to move more.
It's all down to two 'hunger hormones' - ghrelin and leptin.
Ghrelin is released after the brain signals the stomach is empty, while leptin is released from fat cells to suppress hunger - and tell the brain it's full.
But, when you don't get enough zzzs, the body makes more ghrelin and less leptin - leaving you hungry and increasing your appetite.
2. Stop eating so much sugar
Belly fat is indeed linked to sugar consumption.
Sugar causes the release of insulin, which in turn encourages the body to store fat particularly around the middle.
Cutting sugar and foods that break down quickly into sugars (e.g. fruit/bread/pasta/wine), will reduce and stabilise levels of insulin as well as help your body to look to fat for fuel.
3. Hit the gym
A combo of aerobic and strengthening exercises in the gym is an effective formula at blitzing belly fat.
Aerobic activities such as running, cycling, swimming and aerobic classes increase the calories we burn both during and after exercising, while strength training such as lifting weights or using our own body weight helps to build muscle.
And the more muscle we have, the faster our metabolism is, so that we burn more calories, even at rest.
Each week aim for at least 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise and do strength training at least twice.
4. Readdress your stress load
Stress leads to elevated levels of cortisol — known as the stress hormone — which contributes to the storage of fat, particularly abdominal fat that is often the hardest to get rid of.
Stress can also lead to a decrease in fat oxidation, the process that allows fat to be burnt as energy. This means that you don’t necessarily have to be consuming more food to put weight on.
Nutritionist Kim Pearson says taking deep breathing, going for a short walk or building time into your day to relax can help you manage your stress.
5. Focus on portion size
If you stick to certain serving sizes it will make sure you're not going overboard with your calorie intake.
Stick to the following serving sizes: a tennis ball sized serving (around 150g) of cooked pasta, rice, noodles, couscous or other grains; one handful or five level tablespoons (30g) of wholegrain breakfast cereal; one potato the size of a computer mouse (180g); and one to two slices of wholegrain bread.
Scientists' warning
Scientists' warning about belly fat comes after the team from Stockholm analysed the link between abdominal obesity and the risk of a subsequent heart attack or stroke.
They looked at more than 22,000 patients who had suffered a first heart attack.
The team investigated the link between their waist measurement - an indication of abdominal obesity - and the risk of a second heart attack, or stroke.
Those who did suffer a second cardiovascular event - heart attack or stroke - were more likely to be "abominally obese".
Scientists found 78 per cent of men and 90 per cent of women had waist measurements of 37ins (94cm) or above for men and 31ins (80cm) or above in women.
The team took account of other risk factors, but still found the link between abdominal fat and heart attack and strokes.
Increased risk for men
This was also the first study of its kind to analyse men and women together and separately.
The relationship between waist circumference and recurrent events was stronger in men.
In women the relationship was U-shaped, meaning that the mid-range waist circumference (rather than the lowest) was the least risky.
Dr Mohammadi said: "There were three times as many men in the study compared to women, contributing to less statistical power in the female group.
"Therefore, more studies are needed before definite conclusions can be drawn according to gender, but this is a start."
More on diet and weight loss
Regarding possible reasons for the different results between sexes, she said: "Some studies have suggested that abdominal obesity may be more directly associated with the evil visceral fat (fat that sits around your organs) in men compared to women.
"In women it is thought that a greater portion of the abdominal fat is constituted by subcutaneous fat which is relatively harmless."
The research was published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).