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Health Answers

Why do some people get beer bellies?

Q. Why do some people get beer bellies?

A. Michael Jensen, an obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., explains that the classic “beer belly,” a large rounded belly with little fat elsewhere, is caused by a different way of storing fat than most people: putting it behind the abdominal muscles and around internal organs (visceral fat) rather than under the skin (subcutaneous fat). Visceral fat is associated with a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other metabolic diseases than subcutaneous fat.

Men are more likely than women to have beer bellies, and genetics influences how different people store fat. But research suggests that lifestyle factors also have a role: smoking, being sedentary, and yes, consuming lots of alcohol, are linked to a larger waist circumference.

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One reason that drinking beer (and other alcoholic beverages) contributes to a big belly is simply the high calorie content of alcohol, but drinking may also affect how the body stores fat. Jensen says that alcohol could specifically promote visceral fat, but he believes a more likely possibility is that excessive drinking interferes with normal fat storage. “You’re probably not going to store a lot of fat in abdomen unless the fat stores in the skin are not doing their jobs right,” he says.

You can shrink a beer belly by exercising and limiting calories, but targeted exercises like sit-ups won’t help. “The good news is that when people lose weight,” he says, “they tend to lose that belly fat.”


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