You can have a muffin top at any age, but it becomes more common during middle age & later. In women, waist fat is related to a shift in hormones that happens around menopause. With menopause, a drop in estrogen changes where you store fat. Rather than nestling in your hips and thighs, body fat shifts to the waist and tummy. As estrogen falls, the stress hormone cortisol also rises, and it causes fat build-up around the waist too.

So, what can you do? You can’t stop aging, but you can slow it down, stay active, focus on a healthy lifestyle & mindset, and think about adding anti-aging nutraceuticals to your daily routine.

Another factor that contributes to age-related muffin tops is an age-related decline in insulin sensitivity. One of the signs of worsening insulin sensitivity is an expansion in waist size & deep tummy fat. With insulin resistance, you might notice a slow and gradual rise in your serum triglyceride level, a drop in HDL, the good cholesterol, along with a rise in blood pressure. These factors, along with an increase in waist size, are signs of metabolic syndrome, another term for pre-diabetes.

Women who are young & have a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome may have insulin resistance. They also accumulate fat around their waist. Therefore, age is a risk factor, but you can have it at any age.

So, what to do? If you notice your waistline expanding, schedule an appointment with your doctor for a physical & bloodwork. You want to make sure the cause isn’t insulin resistance. If it is, your doctor will advise you on the best course of action, likely more exercise, change in diet and controlling blood sugar.

When your body is under stress, your adrenal glands release a range of hormones, including one called cortisol, dubbed the stress hormone. Cortisol prepares your body to fight or for flight to help you act quickly during times of stress. Although cortisol breaks down glycogen & tells your liver to produce more glucose, so you have a ready source of fuel, it also increases the build-up of waist & belly fat. You won’t get a muffin top from short-term stress, but if it drags on, it can change your waist size. Plus, excess cortisol causes you to crave calorie-dense foods that are high in fat and sugar.

Not only does excess fat deposit in your pelvic cavity, but it also builds up around organs like your liver. In fact, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a syndrome marked by excess fat around the liver, is an epidemic in western countries. Therefore, a muffin top means you may also have excess fat around your liver. Fatty liver disease can progress to inflammation and, rarely, cirrhosis. Therefore, it’s important to know whether you have it and do what you can to lower your risk.

So what can you do? Listen to your body and identify your stress triggers. Try to minimize those triggers, meditate, exercise and think about adding a nutraceutical to help your body better manage stress & the hormones that come from too much of it.

Not sleeping enough over many days or weeks can also spark a rise in cortisol. In turn, cortisol causes an increase in belly and waist fat. This isn’t surprising since not sleeping enough is a stressor on your body. Much like chronic mental and physical stress elevates cortisol, insufficient sleep causes your adrenal glands to produce more cortisol. Studies show that insomnia increases cortisol too. Quality of sleep also matters!

So how do we get better sleep? Get on a sleep schedule - go to bed at close to the same time every night & wake up at close to the same time every morning. Create a restful environment - keep your room cool, & dark & quiet, wear a mask to block out light and use a fan to block out sounds. Eliminate or at least limit TV and phone use before bed - your phone should NOT be next to your bed! Think about adding a relaxing activity before bed - taking a bath or reading and adding a sleep support product might be a good idea too.

Eating an ultra-processed food diet can also add to your waistline & contribute to a muffin top. Sugar, especially sugar-sweetened drinks, are a contributor too. Even fruit juice, as healthy as it sounds, can increase waist & tummy fat since you’re missing the fiber that helps moderate blood sugar. A good diet to pattern yours after is the Mediterranean diet, a low glycemic eating plan linked with a lower risk of a variety of common health problems.

AVOID - sugary drinks, even diet drinks & fruit juices. Sweetened cereal which has too much sugar & too little fiber. Fried foods. Flavored yogurt. Refined grains, like white bread, white pasta, white rice, usually a clue is ‘enriched flour’ is the first ingredient.

ADDITIONS - Wild Salmon, or other lean proteins. Avocado or other healthy fats. Raw nuts, rich in Magnesium (which most of us are deficient in). Green Tea, Blueberries & Bananas. Eggs, high in protein & helps fat loss through its thermogenic effect. Quinoa & Green leafy veggies (Kale, Spinach, Broccoli).

Think about adding Isotonix® Complete Greens to your daily routine or ask me about other nutraceuticals you can add to ensure you’re getting the required vitamins & minerals that you may not be getting from diet alone.

Not surprisingly, muffin tops are more common in sedentary people. Exercise can help vanquish a muffin top, but you need smart exercise. Hours of cardio each week may have the opposite effect to the one you’re looking for. You think the calories you burn will trim your waistline, but excessive cardio may stress your body to the point that your cortisol level rises & that will make it even harder to shed a muffin top. Switch some cardio for strength training. A good rule to follow is 2 cardio workouts & 2 strength training workouts each week, for at least 30 minutes each. You’ll get some cortisol release with intense exercise, but you’ll also get a burst of growth hormone & testosterone to counter the cortisol release.

Focus on sitting less too. Sitting for long periods of time increases the risk of type 2 diabetes & causes a rise in triglycerides. Even short periods of light exercise can help break up the sitting cycle & keep your body out of hibernation mode. A brisk walk, or taking the stairs is always a good idea. Variety is key, mix up your routine, adding stretching & yoga is smart too!

Targeting your belly fat with conjugated linoleic acid might be a great addition too!