How to lose your beer belly – without giving up on the pub (and why a glass of water with your pint can make a difference)

As well as setting you back a fortune at the pub, a beer belly can also be costly for your health.

And it may just not cost you your cash, a recent study found that beer bellies may cause brain aging and reduced cognition in middle-aged men.

Those carrying extra abdominal weight and with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease were found to have lower brain function.

According to previous research, a beer belly also raises the risk of premature death, even if the rest of your body is slim.

Here, MailOnline looks at the ways to shrink your waistline without giving up on the pub.

WHAT IS A BEER BELLY? 

Although ‘beer belly’ is the most commonly used term, even those who don’t touch a sip of alcohol can acquire one.

The belly fat is largely down to general lifestyle choices such as eating fatty foods and not exercising, although it gets its name from the high calorie intake in alcohol.

Philip Chant is the director of Bodyscan, a company that uses X-ray technology to measure the ratio of fat, muscle and bone in people’s bodies. 

He told The Telegraph: ‘What we call a beer belly is just a fat belly. Beer bellies are typically associated with men, because men naturally store their fat around the middle, while women are more prone to store it around their hips, buttocks and thighs. 

‘Beer can certainly be a contributing factor because beer is calorific and excess calories lead to fat deposits, and as men get fatter, they build that fat around the middle.’

A beer belly is a combination of subcutaneous fat and visceral fat, with the latter being more dangerous as it packs around your organs.

Chant adds that some people will acquire more visceral fat than others as they ‘don’t have to store much fat before they start storing it viscerally’.

Although ‘beer belly’ is the most commonly used term, even those who don’t touch a sip of alcohol can acquire one

HOW TO LOSE A BEER BELLY 

The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline for both men and women is that you are safest not to drink regularly more than 14 units per week, to keep health risks from drinking alcohol to a low level.

That’s around 6 medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or 6 pints of 4 per cent beer. So, you don’t have to ditch the booze completely, just drink it in moderation.

If you do drink as much as 14 units, it’s advised that you spread it evenly over three or days or more. 

Another tip is to alternate between alcohol and glasses of water while you’re out, meaning you will be getting full quicker and drinking less.

Low alcohol or no-alcohol options will also help reduce your calorie intake and lower the risk of a beer belly.

A new major study has also revealed that eating up to three servings of kimchi a day could reduce the amount of fat around your middle – potentially reducing the risk of diabetes.

Kimchi, a traditional Korean dish made of fermented vegetables such as cabbage, has long been linked to health benefits such as regulating digestion and boosting memory.

The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline for both men and women is that you are safest not to drink regularly more than 14 units per week, to keep health risks from drinking alcohol to a low level

Now, a study of more than 100,000 people by researchers from the Chung Ang University in South Korea has found that men who eat three portions of the dish per day are less likely to be overweight and have less belly fat – the type thought to be the riskiest for type 2 diabetes.

Meanwhile, further research claims that those who do not get enough sleep every night are more likely to suffer a pot belly, so it’s important to make sure you get enough shut eye too.

THE RISKS OF A BEER BELLY 

Having what’s known as a ‘beer belly’ harbours many health dangers, putting you at higher risk of a range of conditions including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

It raises the risk of premature death – even if the rest of your body is slim, research shows. 

Researchers looked at data from more than 2.5million people and found that every extra 4in (10cm) of waist size was associated with an 11 per cent higher chance of dying prematurely. 

Having extra fat is especially dangerous when it’s visceral fat that’s located around your vital organs, increasing the risk of stroke and some cancers.

Visceral fat is the most dangerous type, leaking fatty acids into the bloodstream. It differs from the less dangerous subcutaneous fat that accumulates just below the skin’s surface and is responsible for wobbly fat and cellulite. 

Harvard research also shows that every extra two inches on a man’s waist cut his odds of having a baby by nearly 10 per cent. 

An additional two inches on the waist of a man of normal weight – but with a spare tyre – reduced his chances by 46 per cent. 

The figures stood even when other information, including the man’s age and whether he smoked and the woman’s age and weight, was factored in.