Is it because of stress?... An unexpected reason why only belly fat tends to increase more than usual

There is too much stress.

Having a lot of stress means that the level of the stress hormone cortisol is high. When cortisol levels rise, you tend to seek out foods that are high in fats and sugars that improve your mood.

Cortisol also causes changes in the body's chemicals, which can decrease the amount of body fat burned. This is why it is necessary to have stress-relief methods such as exercise or meditation to manage stress in daily life.

"Too little sleep or excessive sleep"

People who sleep less than 5 hours or more than 9 hours a day are associated with increased abdominal fat. This is because they still retain the physiological characteristics of primitive humans who sleep when it gets dark and wake up when it gets light.

Living outside of adequate sleep hours makes it difficult to maintain a normal body shape. When sleep is insufficient, metabolism slows down to conserve energy, and there is a tendency to reach for foods that should be avoided.

Primitive humans did not have the conditions to eat regularly, so they developed a habit of eating whenever they could. Even today, this trait remains, and when humans are in a situation of energy depletion due to lack of sleep, they tend to reach for high-calorie foods that are easy to gain weight.

Additionally, the reason why people with excessively long sleep durations gain weight is still unclear. However, it is presumed that there is a correlation because longer time spent lying in bed means reduced activity time.

There are genetic factors.

Based on internal fat, a person's body shape can be broadly divided into four types: the hourglass shape with a narrow waist, the bottle shape with more fat in the lower body, the apple shape with more fat in the upper body, and the overall thin tube shape. These body types can change depending on management, but fundamentally, they are inherited genetically.

It is somewhat predetermined which parts of the body will accumulate fat intensively from birth. In other words, if you have a pear-shaped body type genetically predisposed to store fat mainly around the abdomen, you will need to put in more effort to manage belly fat. This is why managing belly fat is difficult with the same amount of exercise and diet as others.

Hormone levels have changed

Even women with a pear-shaped body tend to accumulate fat primarily in the hips and legs before and after menopause. This is because the level of estrogen, a female hormone, decreases, causing a slowdown in metabolism. In other words, around the time of menopause, it is necessary to increase the amount of strength training to build muscle and activate metabolism more than before.

I have polycystic ovary syndrome.

10-20% of women of reproductive age have polycystic ovary syndrome. If they have this syndrome, their testosterone levels, a male hormone, are elevated and they tend to gain weight.

In particular, belly fat tends to increase primarily. Generally, men tend to have more apple-shaped bodies than women, and this is believed to be related to testosterone levels.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome tend to have high hormone levels, making it easier to develop an apple-shaped body. If you experience irregular menstruation, hair growth or acne on your body, and a protruding abdomen, you should suspect this syndrome.