You must have noticed most Indian men spotting a big paunch and must have even giggled at your dad, uncle or police guy standing at the signal with their big paunch. In India most middle age men who are quite matured and well settled in their life are considered to have big bellies. The big bellies may signify affluence but it is not very healthy to spot big bellies. If having big bellies would be a sign of prosperity than India would have been the most prosperous country.
India is a country full of superstitions and myths and to do the rounds it is believed that men who indulge in plenty of beer develop beer bellies. But it is not the case, as pot belly is commonly seen in non alcoholic Indians also. Pot belly is generally caused to excessive accumulation of fat (visceral fat) in the abdominal area.
There are varied reasons why Indian men have pot bellies:
Genetics play a very important role in the formation of pot bellies in Indian men. Most Indians have a greater waist circumference and a greater waist to hip ratios. There are two types of body types: apple shaped and pear shaped
All individuals who store fat in the lower part of their body are known to have pear shaped body.
Most individuals that store fat in the stomach and middle section than anywhere else are known to have apple shaped body. Such individuals have a higher waist circumference. Where the fat deposit goes may depend on the lipoprotein lipase which is an enzyme necessary for the fat storage. Indian men with apple shaped bodies have higher concentration of these enzymes in the abdomen and hence are pot bellied.
There are possibilities that men who have apple shaped body generally have many members in their family. Genes are one of the factors that are responsible to determine your pot belly.
It is important to understand that you do not blame your genes for your protruding belly but check out other reasons that could have rendered the beer belly.
Alcohol also plays a very important role in increasing your abdominal circumference. The regular drink that you have at the end of the day with your friends to chill may actually be leading to a pot belly. Regular consumption of alcohol is not good for health. Although pot belly is also known as beer belly but not only beer but there are other types of alcohol also which can cause pot belly. You can prevent pot belly by limiting your alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day.
Smoking is known to cause belly fat. Smoking tends to increase the production of certain male hormones which increases the amount of visceral fat in the body. This leads to the development of big paunches in man.
