Belly fat versus thigh fat: What's more dangerous and difficult to lose?

When it comes to fats, we often wish we could distribute it to places where we’d want it the most. But much to our dislike, it always lands up in areas where we want it the least i.e. our belly and thighs. Besides being the toughest regions to lose weight, belly fat and thigh fat are also very different in nature. Here’s everything you should know about them.

Fat around belly and thighs are formed due to reasons that are similar to how fats are formed in any and all other parts of the body. When you consume more energy than the body actually uses, there’s a possibility that it gets stored in the form of fats.

Belly fat however, is the excessive fat that encircles around the belly and the abdominal region. It majorly comprises of visceral fats that is wrapped around the inner organs and poses great risk to one’s health. While belly fat is most common in men, thigh fats are more prone in women, especially with pear shaped bodies. As against unhealthy visceral fats, thigh fats consist of subcutaneous fat that may have some potential benefits. Subcutaneous fat is found directly under the skin and is the fat that's measured using skin-fold calipers to estimate your total body fat.

According to a study, belly fat is viewed as a bigger health risk than hip or thigh fat. While fat in the belly comprises of visceral fats, it plays a larger role in insulin resistance, boosting the risk of diabetes and also leading to heart diseases.

Besides increasing the risk of heart disease and diabetes, researchers added that belly fat in particular was linked to an increased risk of obesity. On the other hand, people with thigh fats, which is most common in pear shaped women, are protected from metabolic diseases.

Considering the amount of effort and hard work that goes into reducing belly and thigh fat, it is needless to say that both of these fats are the toughest to reduce. However, according to studies, belly fat may be more difficult to lose than thigh fat. That is because, belly fat has a higher amount of fat cells that don’t respond as easily to the fat-breakdown process, which is known as lipolysis.

Our body is divided into two fat cells – alpha and beta cells. While alpha cells are more responsive to the fat-breakdown process and are quicker, beta cells are the complete opposite. As against areas such as legs, face and arms, our stomach and abdominal regions possess beta cells that makes it difficult to reduce the fats easily and lose weight in these areas. However, as per research, belly fat is the most difficult to lose as the fat there is so much harder to break down.

While belly and thigh fat may differ in various ways, the only way to tackle the problem is through a healthy diet and regular exercises. Start by preventing unhealthy fats and avoid eating excessive sugars and salts. Apart from that, engage in activities and diets that will help you reduce more visceral fat from your belly, while it is the most unhealthy amongst all other types of fats.