Calm Down and Lose Belly Fat

If you want to lose belly fat, say many experts, you will need to reduce the amount of stress in your life.  Reports from medical experts are clear that high levels of stress can add significantly to the accumulation of fat around your belly, which can in turn pose a variety of health risks.
Stress in your life, especially when the stress is prolonged, causes the body to produce higher levels of cortisol, a hormone generated by the adrenal glands.  This hormone is important for many bodily functions, including stabilizing blood pressure and maintaining proper metabolism, but when too much of it is produced it can become harmful, triggering a response that affects every tissue and organ system in the body.
When cortisol levels are elevated due to stress, a person attempting to lose belly fat will begin to feel an increased appetite for carbohydrates and fatty foods.  These are considered by experts to be the fuel necessary to feed the stress in one’s life, and when these substances begin to accumulate they can lead to unsightly weight gain in the midsection. 
When stress occurs, and elevated levels of cortisol are produced, it becomes very difficult to refrain from overeating.  The increased amount of this hormone will leave a person feeling perpetually hungry, and at times this hunger will feel insatiable.  Unfortunately, these extra calories, when not burned off, will invariably be stored deep inside the body in the area that surrounds the organs.  This belly fat, or visceral fat, because of its deep layering, then becomes very difficult to lose.

 High levels of stress, which in turn leads to an accumulation of belly fat, can precipitate a variety of unwanted and harmful health conditions.  Heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and even cancer have direct links to elevated stress and belly fat, so managing this stress for the overall health of the body is crucial.
There are a variety of techniques that can be used to lower stress and the subsequent cortisol it produces.  Meditation, yoga and other relaxation methods are very effective for this purpose, but perhaps the most important and simple

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