Healthy Lifestyle: Why Men have 'Beer Belly’ and Women’s ‘Pear-shaped’ Figure Explained

Two of the questions that poke men and women’s interest is why their bodies accumulate a ‘beer belly’ and a 'pear-shaped' figure. Well, men and women could rest their worrying minds now because a doctor has already revealed the reason why they accumulate such results when gaining weights.

The researcher identified to answer the questions is known as Dr. Zhaoping Li, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California. Li revoked the thought of men that their fondness of drinking is the source of their beer bellies. She stated that it’s not since beer bellies are caused by the man’s body which is programmed to set the fats gained directly into the stomach.

With that said, Li added that "When they run out of storage place in the belly, that's the time the fat starts to accumulate in the liver, pancreas, and muscles." This would then increase men's risk of accumulating (type 2) diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease as reported by Live Science. The statement would then clear that beer bellies are not safe as it may seem for others.

Meanwhile, a women’s pear shaped figure was found to be a result of a woman’s estrogen which sends the fat directly to their hips and legs instead of their stomachs. Thus, further gives energy deposit saves when one is pregnant or breastfeeding as Li identified.

In addition, she added that the estrogen levels of a woman stop once she reaches her menopause period. That time is known to be the event wherein a woman’s body would then directly store fats in the stomach thus explaining the potbellies gained by some women.

Nonetheless, according to Daily Mail, a research found out that men in the US with belly fats are at an early death risk compared to those with healthy stomachs. Li then points out that belly fat is unhealthy. Yet again, small belly pots are still also at risk of developing medical conditions since bellies might not get larger due to genetic reasons.

The doctor also said that exercise could help since it sheds the fat on the stomach first. Li then concluded regardless of gender, man or woman, if your belly already pops out, then it’s time to work out a new lifestyle.