Why do people have a small belly?

Summer is here, and I see many girls complaining that it is too difficult to lose belly fat. Every time they are about to lie down on the bed, they can see the bulge in their belly, and it doesn’t look good when they wear clothes with a belly. Why do girls have a belly?

In fact, there are two main reasons for a long belly:

1. People tend to develop a small belly

2. Women’s fat is related to the reproductive system

Let’s talk about them one by one.

01. Small belly - abdominal obesity

First of all, humans have a tendency to develop a "little belly", which has a lot to do with walking upright. The human body walks upright, but it does not solve the objective existence of gravity, so the human body tends to gather weight downwards. Therefore, in our daily life, various parts of the body are actually working hard to overcome gravity, so even if you stand still, you will get tired.

Secondly, there are a lot of flexible structures in the abdomen, so it is more prone to expansion. Our abdomen is very soft and is also the location of many internal organs of the human body, such as the intestines, stomach, kidneys and other structures.

These flexible organs are more prone to expansion. For example, the lungs and heart in our chest cavity are also capable of expansion, but their expansion is restricted by the hard structure of the ribs.

On this basis, fat accumulation is also critical.

Fat easily accumulates in the abdomen, which is the body's energy storage structure. However, since many people nowadays consume more energy than they consume, the accumulation of visceral fat is very obvious.

For example, the fatty liver that everyone is familiar with.

It is worth mentioning that, at present, abdominal obesity has become an important observation indicator.

One of the indicators in health observation is the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), which is an important indicator for judging central obesity.

Abdominal obesity is associated with many disease risks and has become an important disease monitoring indicator.

02. Female fat accumulation and reproduction

Just like the belly of a girl mentioned above, what I want to say is that fat accumulation is also an evolutionary requirement for women. You may have noticed that the common body fat tables are divided by gender. Generally speaking, the body fat standard for women is higher than that for men.

One of the factors behind this is reproduction. Even today, reproduction still relies on women, and to complete reproduction, two things are needed.

1. Corresponding organs. Reproduction requires a reproductive system, such as ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus, which objectively means that women's organs occupy more space than men's.

These extra organs also need protection, and fat plays this role. After all, fat has strong buffering capacity and can cover the surface of the organs.

2. Energy reserve. Once mammals, including humans, give birth, their natural survival rate will decrease. Whether during pregnancy or childbirth, their overall survival ability and ability to cope with risks will decrease. In this case, women must reserve a certain amount of energy to allow themselves to survive when there is a lack of sufficient energy supply.

In this case, fat accumulation is the best strategy, after all, fat is an efficient way to store energy. Because of this, women must maintain a high body fat percentage. For example, if the body fat is less than 17%, menstruation will stop, and to maintain reproductive ability, it generally needs to be 22%. If these indicators are not met, then women's reproductive ability will be seriously affected.

Because of this, women may be much more efficient at storing fat during their reproductive years.

Finally, it is recommended to maintain a moderate fat content and not be too thin. Otherwise, the metabolism of the whole body may be disordered.