As a man over 30, you may have already developed a beer belly or your once-lean physique may have transformed into a dad bod, making it challenging to manage belly fat. This is one of the harsh realities of life, as your body undergoes numerous changes as you enter your 30s. It might begin to appear as a slight paunch and when not attended might develop into accumulated belly fat. The flab hanging in your midsection will not only make you ditch your favorite pair of trousers but can also invite an array of health issues in the future. Belly fat or visceral fat is linked with higher amounts of bad cholesterol as well as total cholesterol, heart issues, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance [1]. Let’s explore to understand the science behind the accumulation of belly fat among men aged above 30 to identify how to improve their diet and discover non-surgical treatments to reduce belly fat.
Why Belly Fat is Stubborn – Especially in Men over 30
Are you wondering why losing stubborn belly fat is an uphill task? You are not alone. Multiple reasons make your belly fat stay stubborn and tough to lose.
1. High Amount of Alpha Receptors
- The fat cells in your body have two forms of fat receptors, such as beta and alpha.
- While alpha receptors focus on inhibiting fat, beta receptors target the burning of excess fat in the body.
- When you are over 30, your accumulated fats will have more alpha receptors that resist the lipolysis process.
- The stubborn fat in your abdomen has a higher number of alpha-2 receptors that might lower the rate at which the accumulated fat is released from your body.
- These alpha receptors would inhibit fat more quickly when it is influenced by your stress hormone – cortisol after the age of 30.
2. Hormonal Shifts after 30 That Affect Fat Loss
- Decline in Testosterone Levels: Your testosterone levels will begin to decline naturally once you are over 30 years old [2] affecting activities like fat metabolism and muscle growth. Low levels of this hormone can cause a decline in your muscle mass and promote the storage of fat, especially along the abdomen [3].
- Increase in Estrogen Levels: Your body converts testosterone as estrogen and as you age, this activity gets disrupted. When your testosterone levels fall below the normal range, there will be a rise in estrogen levels. Such hormonal shifts can be a major cause behind the accumulation of stubborn belly fat, as it can impact fat distribution.
- Decrease in Growth Hormone: Your pituitary gland will lose its ability to produce more GH or growth hormone as you advance in age [4]. This hormone takes care of maintaining and building muscle mass. A decline in this hormone can lead to low muscle mass and a decrease in calorie-burning activity.
3. Slowed Metabolism and Muscle Loss with Age
- Metabolism Slowdown: This biochemical process is responsible for activities like the conversion of food into energy to support vital functions like body temperature regulation, digestion, and breathing. After the age of 30, your body might experience a sluggish metabolism due to reduced physical activity, making the task of losing belly fat highly challenging [5].
- Declining Muscle Mass: During the early 30s, it is natural for men to face sarcopenia, a phenomenon that triggers a decrease in muscle mass [6]. Unlike fat cells, the muscles in your body are metabolically active, which is why lower muscle mass will deplete the overall energy levels. So, there would be a decline in the basal metabolism, which can contribute to stubborn fat in your abdomen. A reduction in total calorie expenditure can make losing your belly fat extremely difficult.
4. Cortisol Levels Can Be The Culprit
While you might be thinking that you handle stressful situations with ease, your cortisol levels might be telling another story. Excessive stress can trigger the production of hormones like ghrelin and cortisol that might contribute to fat storage by increasing your appetite [7]. Your stress hormone – cortisol will get elevated when you face chronic stress or work pressure every day. Your activities like lack of sleep, excess caffeine, skipping food and too much workouts can also hike cortisol levels. It can:
- Increase the storage of belly fat
- Cause muscle loss
- Cut down testosterone hormone levels
- Develop cravings for high-carb and sweet foods
- Cause alpha receptors to store more fat in the abdomen as you age
Lifestyle Traps: Sedentary Jobs, Stress & Sleep Issues
Men who are aged above 30 often don’t realize how their everyday routine can turn into traps inducing belly fat, poor health, and fatigue. Let’s take a look at how sedentary jobs, chronic stress, and poor sleep patterns can sabotage your health.
1. Sedentary Jobs
Most often men aged above are involved in taking up leadership positions or desk jobs that require them to spend at least 8 to 12 hours sitting in a chair. This sedentary lifestyle can slow down your calorie expenditure, muscle building, and blood circulation rate. Your muscles will develop insulin resistance and cause fat storage in your belly. Staying inactive for several hours can lead to a sluggish metabolism and cause fatigue, lower back pain, and stiff joints.
2. Chronic Stress
Midlife crises caused by unhappy marriage, relationship issues, financial challenges, or workplace pressure can cause excess stress and anxiety. Your body responds by increasing the production of cortisol hormone, which can be harmful to overall health. High cortisol levels can amp up your fat storage levels, especially in the abdomen. It causes the metabolism to slow down and breaks down muscle tissues. High stress levels can also cause binge eating or emotional eating by increasing cravings and low motivation to perform workouts.
3. Sleep Issues
With age, men tend to sacrifice sleep owing to tight work schedules, family responsibilities, and financial problems. Losing quality sleep can hurt their overall health and trigger belly fat. If you are not getting enough sleep, it can cause a depletion in your testosterone levels and decrease the production of growth hormone. Lack of sleep lowers leptin and ghrelin hormones in your body, which will prevent satiety and induce hunger. It lowers insulin sensitivity in your body and increases fat storage in your abdomen.
Why Exercise Alone Doesn’t Always Work After 30
Exercising alone will not be enough after the age of 30 because your body will experience a metabolism slowdown, which can reduce your muscle building and calorie expenditure. Plus, factors like shifts in hormone levels, imbalanced nutrition, and lack of sleep might also hinder you from reaching your weight loss goals. Here’s why exercises won’t work wonders after you touch 30.
- Slow Metabolism Rate: The rate at which your body used to burn calories will begin to decline once you cross 30. So, it is essential to put in more effort while working out than you did in your 20s.
- Hormone Fluctuations: As testosterone levels will be low after 30, your muscle strength and growth will also decline. So, building muscle mass will be challenging even if you perform strength training activities.
- Not Eating Balanced Diet: You will not be able to ditch your belly fat with exercise alone while consuming foods laced with trans fats, sugar, and preservatives. As you age, consuming a balanced diet that has fewer calories is essential to burn excess fat and calories with workouts.
- Lack of Recovery Time: Your body needs enough recovery time for muscle tissue repair after every strenuous workout session. If you are ignoring the recovery time required for your body after exercise, it might lead to extreme fatigue, and overtraining, and affect your fat loss results.
- Too Much Stress: If you are under a lot of stress due to issues in your professional or family life, it can spike cortisol levels, leading to weight gain and affecting your exercise results.
Scientific Reasons Diet Needs to Change Post-30
Though the process of crossing 30 is inevitable, you can exert control over lifestyle choices, specifically your diet. Embrace your 30s and make slight tweaks to your diet to nourish and enhance health.
1. Include More Fiber
A meta-analysis held in 2019 showed that consuming fiber will decrease the risk of developing colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart issues [8]. It also revealed that with every 8gm fiber, about 27% of risks were reduced. Another study in 2018 revealed that increasing fiber intake by 10 gm helped in reducing aging by 5.4 years [9].
2. Focus on Omega-3s
While in your 30s, include foods like hemp seeds, walnuts, and salmon fish loaded with Omega-3s will help get rid of stubborn fat and improve muscle mass [10].
3. Load Up on Calcium
To prevent a decline in bone density after 30, it is essential to eat foods rich in calcium like broccoli, cheese, almonds, spinach, curd, and kale, making up to 1000 mg per day [11].
Non-Surgical Belly Fat Reduction: What Actually Works
Kolors Healthcare offers a wide range of effective and safe non-invasive treatments for belly reduction, especially for males aged above 30 to flaunt a chiseled physique. You can choose from lipo gel, cryolipolysis, and inch loss treatments to get rid of belly fat and results that last long. These belly fat reduction treatments at Kolors can help you achieve a well-toned body by targeting the fat cells to dissipate it with cold energy, radiofrequency, or heat waves. Schedule an appointment with us today to learn more about these advanced non-surgical solutions that don’t have any downtime or risks.
Citation
- Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing – https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it
- Harvard Medical School – https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/treating-low-testosterone-levels
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics – https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_03/sr03-046-508.pdf
- Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing – https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/growth-hormone-athletic-performance-and-aging
- Palmer AK, Jensen MD. Metabolic changes in aging humans: current evidence and therapeutic strategies. J Clin Invest. 2022 Aug 15;132(16):e158451. doi: 10.1172/JCI158451. PMID: 35968789; PMCID: PMC9374375. – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9374375/
- Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2004 July ; 7(4): 405–410. – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2804956/pdf/nihms131937.pdf
- Bouillon-Minois JB, Trousselard M, Thivel D, Gordon BA, Schmidt J, Moustafa F, Oris C, Dutheil F. Ghrelin as a Biomarker of Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2021 Feb 27;13(3):784. doi: 10.3390/nu13030784. PMID: 33673594; PMCID: PMC7997253. – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7997253/
- Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses Reynolds, Andrew et al. The Lancet, Volume 393, Issue 10170, 434 – 445 – https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2931809-9/fulltext
- Dietary Fiber and Telomere Length in 5674 U.S. Adults: An NHANES Study of Biological Aging – https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/4/400
- Center for Human Nutrition and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523277539
- Calcium – Fact Sheet for Health Professionals: National Institutes of Health (NIH) – https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/
