Men differ from women because they tend to gain weight in one main area—the belly. This produces unhealthy and unsightly ‘love handles’ that more importantly increase the risk of chronic disease and premature death. 

The Dangers Of Belly Fat
The Mayo Clinic advises that weight loss is important in men because it has been shown that truncal obesity (a term used to refer to fat around the abdomen), as is often seen in men, is more difficult to get rid of. It causes an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, various cancers, sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome and even premature death, making it one of the most dangerous types of obesity.

All Body Fat Is Not Equal
The fat that lies just beneath the surface of your skin is known as subcutaneous fat. Conversely, belly fat is known as visceral fat, named so because it builds up in the spaces between and around the viscera or the internal organs inside the intestines and your gut.

Dr. Dagogo-Jack, president of the American Diabetes Association, explains that belly fat makes toxins that affect the way the body works, including chemicals known as cytokines that increase risks for heart disease and promotes insulin resistance that poses a threat for the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at the American Cancer Society also warn that cytokines cause inflammation that can lead to certain kinds of cancers, such as those of the colon, pancreas, and the esophagus.

Waist Size Determines Your Risk
Belly fat risks can be ascertained by measuring your waistline: the higher the size, the greater the risk. For men, a waist measurement of 40” or more is in the danger zone.

The Higher Your Waist Size The Higher Your Risk For Premature Death
Research conducted on 360,000 Europeans (Pischon, MD, et al) linked belly fat to early death. This is one of the largest and longest healthy studies ever conducted, and it found that those who had the most belly fat had a double risk for premature death versus those with the least amount of visceral fat (belly fat) as reported in the Nov. 12 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study also found that risk of death increased with waist circumference even in those who were not overweight or obese.

The study’s author, Dr. Pischon, noted that belly fat is one of the few individual characteristics, alongside smoking and drinking, that can increase the risk for premature death.

Dealing With Belly Fat
If you have belly fat, you’ll find that it is hard to get rid of. It takes a great deal of motivation to change one’s patterns in life to get rid of visceral fat. Here are some tips to deal with your belly fat and reduce your risk for disease and premature death:

• Build Core Strength:  It is less effective to take up jogging than it is to lift weights so that the core muscle strength is increased. Muscle burns slightly more calories than fat, so you lose weight faster. However, really you should do both.
• Do Intense Exercises: Jogging or traditional cardio is not your best choice in weight loss. Instead, try 10 to 15 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training workouts that really get the heart going and burns more fat and calories long after the workout is over.
• Get Enough Sleep:  You tend to eat junk food if you stay up half the night. By getting enough sleep, you make more testosterone and growth hormone, which can help you gain muscle mass and burn calories at a greater rate.
• Don’t Confuse Thirst With Hunger:  Eat more high-water foods that can tame both thirst and hunger. These foods, such as fruits and vegetables, can fill you up so that you don’t end up eating too many high calorie foods. 
• Eat More Nuts: Nuts such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, and other tree nuts can reduce the risk of heart disease and stick with you longer so you are less hungry throughout the day. Nuts make for a great afternoon snack. Portion control here is very important. Only consume a small handful at a time.
• Ditch the Beer: Beer can create the notorious ‘beer belly’ and is also high in calories. Drinking any kind of alcohol interferes with protein repair so your muscles won’t be strong, even when exercising them consistently. Alcohol also decreases the amount of water-soluble vitamins in your system so the body does not repair itself as well.
• Don’t Eat Bread, Rice Or Pasta:  Bread of any kind is a complex carbohydrate that should be avoided unless you are underweight. In the meantime, stick with fish, lean cuts of meat, vegetables, and low glycemic fruits (such as berries) that will strengthen your muscles and reduce your weight as quickly as possible.
• Have A Cheat Day Once Per Week:  You need to eat well and healthy every day, but having an occasional cheat day is only human, so make sure to do this once per week. Make the cheat day as moderate as you can and don’t go all out by eating an outrageous 5000 calories. This means that you will cheat only about 14 percent of the time.
• Create A Lifestyle Change:  Dieting isn’t just a temporary thing that you do in order to look good for a family event. Make sure that when you start to eat healthy and work out that this becomes a lifelong habit that keeps your weight within the normal range.

Men can only lose weight if they commit to eating better and exercising more. Going back to bad habits only adds back abdominal fat, and brings back a high risk of heart disease and other diseases commonly associated with obesity. 

Binge eating is not just a habit. There is an actual disease called “binge eating disorder” in which you eat abnormally large amounts of food with an inability to stop eating when your body is technically full. This is a dangerous, life threatening condition, but help is available and recovery is possible.

While you can over eat every once in a while, binge eaters consistently eat too much but do not use laxatives or purge to get rid of the food. 
 
Many people who have a binge eating disorder are obese, but some are of a normal weight. 

The signs and symptoms of having binge eating disorder include the following:

• Having out of control eating behaviors
• Eating huge amounts of food over a short period of time
• Eating even when you aren’t hungry
• Eating rapidly when you binge eat
• Eating in secret or when you are alone
• Feeling ashamed, guilty, or depressed about your eating behavior
• Always going on a diet, usually without success

Risk Factors for Binge Eating
There are some factors in your life that can increase your chances of having a binge-eating problem. These include the following:

• Psychological problems: Most people who have this problem have a negative self-image and don’t feel positive about their accomplishments and skills. You can overeat because you are bored, stressed out, or have a poor image of your body.
• Family history: If you have a first-degree relative such as a sibling or a parent who suffer from binge eating difficulties, you might be at an increased risk yourself. It may mean that there are some hereditary factors that relate to developing this type of eating disorder.
• Over dieting: If you have a long history of dieting as far back as childhood, this may have been a way of compensating for times in which you were otherwise overeating.
• Age: You can have a binge eating disorder at any age, but most people have an onset of the disorder in their teens or early twenties.

The Dangers of Binge Eating
Binge eating can cause both physical and psychological problems. Some of the major dangers of binge eating include the following:

• Feeling terrible about yourself
• Feeling bad about how your life is going
• Having problems functioning in your personal life, in social situations, or in the work environment
• Having a poor quality of life
• Being socially isolated from others
• Suffering from obesity or being overweight
• Having medical problems as a result of being obese, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis of the joints, gastroesophageal reflux disease (also called GERD), and breathing problems such as sleep apnea

Psychiatric disorders most commonly linked to binge eating problems includes bipolar disorder, depressive symptoms, anxiety disorders, and illicit drug use.  

Diagnosing Binge Eating Disorder
In order to make the diagnosis of a binge eating disorder, you may need to see a psychological professional for a full evaluation of your eating behaviors. Tests, which can evaluate the possibility that the binge eating has already affected your health, include testing for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol, gastroesophageal disorder, and sleep apnea disorder.  

The doctor may perform a complete physical examination, run blood or urine tests, and perhaps refer you to a center for sleep disorders for a consultation.  

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the following things must be in place in order to make the diagnosis of Binge Eating Disorder:

• Having a lack of control about eating, including how much you eat and whether or not you can actually stop eating
• Having recurrent attacks of overeating a large amount of food over a short period of time
• Having these factors related to eating: eating to the point where you feel extremely full, eating very quickly, eating alone because you are embarrassed about your eating, or feeling depressed, guilty or disgusted about your eating behaviors
• Having concerns about your eating habits
• Engaging in binge eating at least once weekly for a period of three months or more
• Eating that is dissociated with purging, laxative abuse, or excessive exercise

Binge eating can be dangerous. It affects your overall health and can lead to mental problems that only perpetuate the eating problem. If you suspect that you or someone you know may be suffering from an eating disorder, consult a physician.