The fat cells that sit around the middle of our waist are particularly bad for your health. If you carry excess weight here you are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s along with some cancers. This is because these fats cells are different to the ones that surround the rest of our body. Other fat cells are quite inactive – they could be considered as storage facilities where fat is stored quietly. 

Fat cells from around the middle are like active factories, releasing toxins, inflammatory substances, excess oestrogen and increasing damage to organs. It can be difficult to shift this weight but adopting a well-balanced diet high in fish, vegetables and fruit, and low in carbohydrates is a good place to start. Our expert nutritionists have been helping people to shift this type of fat for over ten years. 

We can help you with the best diet for you before you embark on strict diets like Atkins, keto, paleo that may not be sustainable or healthy in the long term. 

What’s the cause?

The main reason some people gather more fat around their middle than others is specifically because of the action of the stress hormone cortisol. Millions of years ago, our bodies were designed to react quickly to danger. Like wild animals we were on constant alert so we could run or fight if threatened.

When your brain thinks your life is in danger it stimulates the release of adrenaline and cortisol. This fight or flight response is incredibly clever and thoroughly efficient. It provides instant energy for 5-10 minutes allowing you to react swiftly to dangerous situations.

These days, many of us live under chronic stress. But our bodies can’t distinguish between late trains, missed appointments, spiralling debt, infuriating work colleagues, family disputes and the truly life-threatening stress it gears up to challenge. So it reacts exactly the same as it’s always done. The problem with many modern lifestyles is that stress (our ‘perceived threat’) is almost continuous and comes without the natural release that either fighting or fleeing might provide. Unless you do something physical (as your body is expecting you to) all that extra energy, in the form of fat and glucose, has nowhere to go. It must be simply re-deposited as fat.

If you can see yourself in the list below, your cortisol levels are likely to be high:

• A tendency to gain fat around your tummy
• Increased appetite
• Increased cravings for chocolate, sweets, breads, cakes, caffeine and alcohol (particularly any combination of carbohydrates and fats, such as chocolate and cakes because they are particularly high in calories)
• Your immune system is low (you get frequent colds and infections)
• Headaches
• Nail biting
• Teeth grinding
• High cholesterol
• Blood sugar swings
• Digestive problems (such as bloating and flatulence)
• Chest pains – (you must see your doctor if you are getting chest pains but the effects of the stress hormones can mimic heart problems)
• Muscle aches and pains
• Shoulder and neck pain (stress hormones will keep certain muscles tense ready for fight or flight)
• Hair loss
• Irregular periods or no periods
• Difficulty in concentrating or forgetfulness
• Depression
• Increased premenstrual symptoms (PMS)
• Slower metabolism (which makes it harder to lose weight in general)
• Low sex drive
• Tiredness but an inability to sleep well
• Tendency to get a second wind in the evening
• Waking up in the middle of the night, finding it hard to get back to sleep and then desperately want to continue sleeping in the morning when you should be getting up.

What If You Have Tried Everything And Nothing Seems To Work Anymore?

If you are really struggling to understand why the weight is not shifting, it might be time to look for an underlying imbalance.

• During the menopause, hormonal changes can make it more difficult and more challenging to lose weight and you may need to change your diet in ways you did not need to before
• Thyroid conditions are also extremely common and can cause weight gain or weight loss resistance
• Imbalances in gut bacteria are very important. The relationship of our gut bacteria with our metabolism is critical and this could be something that has been damaged over years
• Stress can make us ‘hold’ on to weight and affect our metabolism. This can be supported through diet, supplements and other stress management techniques

The Glenville Nutrition Clinic

Dr Marilyn Glenville who founded The Glenville Nutrition Clinics has been in clinical practice for over 30 years and knows that you need to be able to trust the nutritional advice you have been given and know that any tests that are being recommended are important to help you change your shape. 

At The Glenville Nutrition Clinic we have the experience to support you with dietary advice, supplements and nutritional tests that can help you not only lose fat around the middle but also improve your general health and wellbeing.

Our aim is to provide help, support and information that can make a real difference to your health.

When you come for a consultation, you will be in the hands of one of Dr Marilyn Glenville’s highly qualified nutritionists.

All of our nutritionists are hand-picked and trained to follow Dr Glenville’s high standards.

If you’re ready to improve your mental welling and help enjoy a good night’s sleep or you have concerns about your general health, please do give us a call and we can set up a telephone or Skype consultation for you.

So make the call now, and take your first step towards achieving better health and wellbeing.

There are many laboratory tests that are extremely useful for weight loss. 

These tests can give you invaluable insights into understanding what is going on in your body at the moment and can tell you what vitamin and mineral deficiencies you may have. 

The interpretation of these results lets you know what supplements you need to take and what amounts of specific nutrients are needed in order to help you lose fat around your middle.

In the clinic we use an exclusive Nutritional Test that checks whether you have any deficiencies or imbalances in 15 different vitamins, mineral and essential fatty acids from one blood sample:

Minerals – calcium, chromium, copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc
Vitamins – A, C, B12, D, E, folate and beta-carotene
Essential fatty acids – your ratio of omega 6 to 3 fats

We can also test how stressed you are by measuring cortisol with saliva samples which is convenient and accurate and the sample is collected at home and then posted back to the lab.

We can also look at digestion with a stool sample to check for efficient absorption and digestion of nutrients, levels of beneficial bacteria, candida overgrowth, parasites, inflammation etc. and possible causes of digestive symptoms like bloating, flatulence, IBS etc.

All the tests we use in the clinic are carried out by accredited scientific laboratories in the UK and the USA.

Your nutritionist will interpret the findings of these tests for you and provide you with tailored recommendations based on your results.

For more information or to book a consultation or a test just
Phone:  01892 515 905 or 
Email: health@glenvillenutrition.com

during normal office hours and we will be happy assist you.

Founded by Dr. Marilyn Glenville PhD, the UK’s leading nutritionist and authority on natural health. 

Author of 16 internationally best-selling books and former President of The Food and Health Forum at The Royal Society of Medicine.

For more than 30 years, The Glenville Nutrition Clinics have been supporting patients naturally and is the longest established nutrition clinic in the UK today.

Once you’ve booked your consultation our practice manager will call you in the next few days to book your appointment on a date that’s convenient for you.

The prices above are for a consultation with one of Dr Glenville’s highly qualified nutritionists who have been practicing with her for many years and are all personally trained by her.