Research shows that having a fat belly also has elevated triglyceride which increases your possibility of developing a heart attack. The person’s body makes triglycerides from sugar, and abdominal obesity or stomach fat comes from high blood insulin levels. When you eat, your blood sugar level rises too. Yet, there is more to the story about stomach fat and heart attack.

In order to prevent blood sugar levels from boosting too high, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, which serves as transport mechanism of sugar going to the cells and converts blood sugar to a type of fat called triglyceride. Insulin also serves as a bus for triglycerides to reach the fat cells in your stomach. Therefore, high triglycerides and a stomach fat are signs of high blood pressure, high blood insulin levels, and high blood levels of insulin constrict arteries to cause heart attacks.

You also have to note that fat cells in your belly are far different from those found on your hips. The blood that circulates from stomach fat goes directly into your liver while the blood that flows from your hips is the ones that go into your systemic circulation. The livers of those who have excess stomach fat are blocked from removing insulin hormone by the extra fat and therefore do not eliminate insulin from the bloodstream as effectively as the livers of people who store fat primarily in their hips or in different parts of the body.

People who store fat primarily in their tummies have higher blood sugar and blood insulin levels, which raise levels of the LDL or bad cholesterol that causes heart attacks, and decrease levels of the good HDL cholesterol that prevents heart attacks.

If you store fat primarily in your abdominal region, you should start avoiding refined carbohydrates found in foods made with white rice, flour, milled corn or simple sugars.

Workout like sit-ups is fine for toning your belly muscles, but don't ever believe they will give you flat tummy. Exercising a muscle does not provide fat reduction over the specific muscles that are exercised. Well, if it did, then tennis players would have lesser fat in their tennis arms, but they actually don't because the only way to reduce stomach fat is to lose weight overall.