Why You Store Fat In Certain Places

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Why You Store Fat In Certain Places
Have you ever wondered why you store fat in certain places?
Why you tend to hold onto to excess fat in your hips and thighs…
…or why you can’t seem to get rid of the belly fat?
I am going to break it down for you so that not only will you understand why you store fat in certain areas but also what if anything you can do to reduce the excess fat that just won’t seem to budge.
And believe it or not it’s NOT all about your genetics.
While it is true that you did in fact inherit certain body traits, your genetics don’t control everything. There’s something else that plays a key role in your overall fat distribution. And that something else is your hormones.
To begin with it is important to look at your DNA.
The reality is that we are genetically predisposed to certain things and that includes the shape of our body, how much muscle mass we naturally carry, where we store fat and our overall shape. In fact, it’s estimated that over 50% of your actual fat storage is dictated by your genetics. If you factor in gender, it’s closer to 70%.
So, what about that remaining 30%?
Well, that has to a lot to do with age, ethnicity and yet other genetic factors. Genetics DO play a major role, but there are other factors including other catalysts that can determine where your excess fat is stored and how much of it you store.
And one of the main catalysts is…Cortisol.
You’ve probably heard that there is a correlation between cortisol production and things like excess belly fat and there is a lot of truth to that.
Here’s how it works.
Cortisol exerts a very powerful effect on adipose tissue metabolism and there’s a very good reason for that: It’s all because of something called a glucocorticoid receptor.
Cortisol itself is a glucocorticoid and throughout your body you have specific receptors located in your fat cells called glucocorticoid receptors. These glucocorticoid receptors receive a message from cortisol causing them to store fat in a very specific way. Because fat already contains glucocorticoid receptors the more fat that we accumulate the more of these receptors we have.
What this means is that more cortisol we make the more fat we store.
Now this all happens because the glucocorticoid receptors triggers something known as lipoprotein lipase. When lipoprotein lipase acts due to glucocorticoid triggering it has different fat density variables in different areas of the body. In other words, different areas of your body will store different amounts of fat.
It’s why one person can have a lean flat stomach, but they carry a lot of fat on their hips, buttocks and thighs. Or why someone who carries a lot of belly and visceral fat can have lean, slender even muscular legs. For most people, it starts with visceral adipose tissue which is the fat that is underneath our skin. It’s also the fat surrounding our organs at the very far interior of our body. That’s why initially as you see the numbers going up on the scale, you don’t necessarily see where the excess fat is accumulating. It often starts deep in between your organs.
The next place it begins to accumulate is, you guessed it…
Good old belly fat.
It’s this predisposition for the accumulation of belly fat that makes getting rid of it so difficult for so many people.
Next in line is femoral sub-q fat – a fancy word for thigh and leg fat…
That’s pretty much the order.
This means that cortisol is really the ONLY hormone that can actually dictate where fat is actually stored. Focusing on ways to lower stress and minimize abnormal cortisol production is really your best bet in changing where your body stores fat.
There’s a reason why keto is so effective for losing excess fat, especially deep belly and visceral fat. Studies show that consuming sugar and particularly fructose is the most likely to cause the formation of visceral fat, which as you know is the fat inside your abdomen lining your organs and the cause of pot belly. When you start the ketogenic lifestyle you ditch sugars of all kinds in favor of healthy fats and moderate protein.
Have you begun to notice changes in your fat distributin on your diet? If not, it may be time to review your plan, re-assess your macro needs and track for a while…

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