WHAT IS BODY FAT

Body fat is scientifically known as adipose tissue is a part of the body and an integral part of our endocrine system. Calories that we consume that are not utilized by the body are stored as fat tissues. The adipose tissue in our body are of 3 types. They are:

1.ESSENTIAL FAT:

  • Essential fat are found in brain, bone marrow, nerves and membranes covering the   organ.
  • Function- hormone regulation, vitamin absorption and temperature regulation
  • Requirement: women -10 to 30% of body composition Men- 2 to 5% of body composition

2.SUBCUTANEOUS FAT:

It is the pinchable kind of fat found between the skin and muscles and also under the skin.

Constitutes the major part of the body fat.

Function : Temperature regulation, Cushion against physical trauma.

3.VISCERAL FAT:

This is the fat that is stored in the abdomen and around all internal organs and also deep in the belly.

This kind of fat becomes firm when pressed and that’s how visceral fat is identified.

IMPORTANCE OF BODY FAT

Body fat or adipose tisdues is considered as an organ ; more specifically an endocrine organ (i.e. more related to hormonal regulation in our body). So Inspite of the villain as we consider the body fat, it too play major roles in our body. Some of those include:

  1. Protection of internal organs against trauma by acting as a physical cushion.
  2. Energy Storage- energy from fat is utilized by body in case of inadequate amount of energy from food and prevents the body from starvation.
  3. Hormone Regulation – adipose tissue secretes a lot of hormones which plays an important role in regulating the body immunity, fertility, etc.
  4. Temperature Regulation
  5. Immunity-regulates the metabolic states of the body and thus the  immunity boosting.
  6. Protects the skin from ageing

So as much as the fat is important in human body, excess of body fat is very dangerous as it makes the body prone to more health risks. Here comes the importance of measurement of body composition.

What is body composition? BMI or body mass index is a common method used to determine the physical built of a person as lean, moderate and obese. It is an outdated way of measuring the health as it just checks the ratio of person’s weight to his/ her height.

Body composition is a more accurate and serious approach towards evaluating the persons’ weight as it evaluates the person’s weight by comparing its different core components – fats, water, bone, muscle, skin and other tisdues that constitutes the body.

WHY IS BODY COMPOSITION SIGNIFICANT?

Body composition takes our information regarding weight one step further by figuring out the percentage of our weight as from fat and non-fat masses which gives a complete picture of our health and fitness. A healthy body composition is the one which has a lower percentage of body fat and higher percentage of non- fat mass. Hence there should be a healthy balance between fat and non- fat components in our body.

ABDOMINAL OBESSITY

A protruding or bulged belly is a discomfort for all and causes insecurity. Most of the time people trying for weight loss are trying to get rid of their belly fat as a primary aim. Even though bot lh subcutaneous and visceral fat are both present in the abdomen ;the prime reason behind abdominal obesity or belly fat is the visceral fat. It is considered that 10% of the total body fat is the visceral fat and that’s how it is roughly calculated.

What is Abdominal obessity?

Central Obessity is of 2 types:

  1. Upper Abdominal/ Apple Shaped: caused due to visceral fat.
  2. Pear Shaped/ Lower Abdominal: due to subcutaneous fat.

HOW IS ABDOMINAL OBESSITY MEASURED?

There are different methods to measure abdominal obessity such are CT scan and MRI which can give us precise measurements. There are also other techniques that can help us to determine central obessity which are more easier and can be done at home also. They are:

1.Abdominal Circumference :

  • refers to measuring the size of our abdomen
  • with the help of a tape, measure around the widest part of the stomach, usually across the umbilicus.
  • breathe in and record the measurement at the time of exhale.
  • you have abdominal obessity if the circumference is greater than 40cm in men and 35 cm in women.

2.Waist To Hip Ratio:

  • measure the circumference of abdomen.
  • also measure the size of the hips on the widest part.
  • divide the hip size by waist size and then you get the ratio.
  • Abdominal obessity : if greater than 0.9 in men and greater than 0.85 in women.

Causes of Belly Fat:

Belly fat builds up due to a number of reasons. Majority of the causes points towards an unhealthy life style. Even underlying diseases may be a cause but mostly all reasons points towards unhealthy life style.

  1. Sugary food and beverages: with foods with added sugars and beverages like soda, we tend to consume more sugar and calories than required and with almost nil nutritional value – which ultimately adds up to visceral fat.
  2. Alcohol
  3. Sedantary life style and Physical inactivity
  4. Low protein and fiber diet
  5. Menopause
  6. Gut Bacteria
  7. Stress
  8. Genetics
  9. Wrong Sleep Cycle.

RISKS OF ABDOMINAL OBESSITY

1.Metabolic Syndrome :a cluster or group of health risk factors -hypertension, high triglycerides, high HDL, insulin resistance and abdominal obessity- if you have any 3 out of this 5 factors, then you are suffering from metabolic syndrome.

  • Abdominal obessity is considered to be a prominent risk factor for metabolic syndrome abd is considered as one of the emerging health problem.Visceral fat is metabolically active and its increase can put the person towards a lot of health risks such as:
  1. Higher risk of heart disease
  2. Asthma and compromised lung functions
  3. Cancer
  4. Dementia
  5. Diabetes melitus
  6. Hypertension
  7. Stroke
  8. Sleep disorders
  9. Hormonal imbalances and infertility

Women poses more risk to these health issues than men.

TREATMENT FOR ABDOMINAL OBESSITY

The visceral fat is the easy to lose fat. So physical, dietary and therapeutic interventions can easily helps in reducing the belly fat. Overall reduction of the fat results in reduction of the belly fat also.

Dietary Changes:

  • Including high fiber foods (fruits and vegetables ) and whole grains in the diet.
  • Reducing intake of processed, refined and ready-made foods.
  • Avoid crash dieting.

Physical Activity:

  • Being physically active helps the body to easily burn calories and thus accumulation of fat.
  • 60-90 minutes of activity such as walking, swimming, cycling, weight lifting and work outs are suggested.
  • A regular exercise habit helps in fat reduction and prevents obessity.

Weight Loss Treatments:

  • Medications
  • Surgical interventions called as bariatric surgeries
  • Hormonal treatment.

BELLY FAT IN AYURVEDA

According to Ayurveda, obessity is called by the name ‘stoulya’ or ‘medovikara’. It us considered as a santarpanajanya vikara (disease caused due to excess nutrition )suffesting stoulya as a metabolic disorder.

All the 3 doshas- vata, pitta and kapha (kapha is predominant) are involved stoulya condition. The vitiated doshas causes vitiation of Agni and in turn the medodhatu and causes obessity.

Ayurveda as such does not believe in the session wise fat lose. It follows a holistic approach covering different aspects of nutrition / diet, exercise, yoga, internal cleansing, external therapies and Ayurvedic medications to speed up the metabolic correction.

Ayurvedic weight loss treatment includes:

  1. SHODANA – Acheived by different panchakarmas such as vamana, virechana, basti ( lekhana basti )
  2. SAMANA-

External Therapies such as

  1. Abhyangam (oil massage)
  2. Udwarthanam( powder massage)
  3. Swedanam(fomentation)
  4. Utsadhanam( powder mixed with decoction is used for massage)
  5. Dhanyamladhara
  6. Various types of Potali therapies( poultices)
  • Internal Medications

Along with external therapies, internal medicines are started parallelly to correct the metabolism, improve the Agni and also to pacify the vitiated dosha. Along with these treatment protocols, a healthy diet, yoga and other exercises are also initiated. Slowly but steadily, Ayurveda ensures an effective weight loss and management and thereby helping the person to shift to a better and healthy way of living.

Ayurvedic Herbs That Helps in Fat Reduction :

  1. Triphala
  2. Guggulu
  3. Punarnava
  4. Vrikshamla / Malabar Tamarind
  5. Shilajit
  6. Methi
  7. Dalchini/ Twak
  8. Kshoudra/ Honey

YOGA TO REDUCE BELLY FAT

  1. Bhujangasana (Cobra pose)
  2. Naukasana (Boat pose)
  3. Shalabhasana (Locust pose)
  4. Paschimothanasana( Seated forward bend)
  5. Ustrasana (Camel pose)
  6. Pawanamuktasana( Wind relieving pose)
  7. Sethubandhasana( Bridge pose)
  8. Kumbakasana (Plank)
  9. Adhomukhasvanasana( Downward facing dog)
  10. Virabhadrasana( Warrior pose)
  11. Surya Namaskara (Sun salutations)

” vyayama nithyo jeernashee yavagodhuma bhojanaha santharpana krutaihi doshaihi stoulyam muktwa vimuchyet ”

Ayurveda believes in following a healthy life style and suggests that following a regular exercise, eating only after the digestion of previous meals, and including regular intake of yava (barley) and godhuma (wheat) in diet helps in easily curbing obessity.

We at Agni Ayurvedic Village promotes effective weight loss management programmes in Mumbai. Our 14 day weight loss programmes ensures internal cleansing, correcting the digestive fire, teaching a healthy way of eating and ensuring yoga and exercises in everyday life. We assist you, guide you and ensure you a healthy way of weight loss  and a healthy life ahead.

 

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