Our heart can be at risk by a number of factors and we must follow a few things to make sure our heart stays healthy. From a healthy heart healthy diet to a regular exercise plan, all these things must be done together if we want to see results fast.

While heart disease is caused by a number of things from smoking to unhealthy diet, there’s something else that is not emphasized enough, when it comes to talking about our heart health. Within all the signs, being obese and having belly fat is one of the most neglected signs of heart disease.

How it affects us?

Even if you are not seriously overweight, having abdominal fat can be a serious heart disease risk factor posing a serious threat to the heart.

This fat that lies just below our skin in our body is called subcutaneous fat and builds around our organs like the stomach and our intestines. What this type of fat does is that, it make toxins that effect the normal functions of our body. Among these toxins are the chemicals that increase our risk of developing heart disease and also cause diabetes.

Heart health and obesity are much more closely related than we actually perceive.

How to tell?

Sometimes, we are not overweight but still have a lot of abdominal fat. It can be difficult to tell at times, whether that abdominal fat is dangerous to our health or not. So how do we know? There’s a simple way to know and start using preventive measures. Take a measuring tape measure your waist size. The greater the number, more the risk. For women, the waist size must not exceed beyond 35 and for men, it must not go above 40.

Risks associated with our increasing belly fat are:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Insulin resistance and diabetes
• High blood pressure

High blood pressure and cardiovascular disease can be a leading cause of the deteriorating heart health. Having diabetes also means that you are more likely to develop a heart disease due to a rise in the blood pressure. Cholesterol can also be associated with diabetes, again posing a threat of the heart health.

How to reduce belly fat?

There are a lot of ways to help reduce belly fat and help promote a healthy life. Some of them are stated below:

• Try cutting on unhealthy fat
• Make a healthy eating plan, don’t cut down on food
• Start running
• Lift weights
• Avoid processed foods
• Eat green
• Eat all seasonal fruits
• Try eating fruits instead of drinking their juice

Cutting on unhealthy fats helps give rise to healthy cholesterol and reduces the unhealthy cholesterol. A healthy diet plan is also important as cutting down on your food won’t help a lot but if you eat healthy and good food that might help reduce your belly fat. Running is also recommended but it should be light interval running as high intensity running can exert pressure on the heart again posing a threat.