In Victorian times a large belly was a sign of prosperity and manliness, but now we know that having a lot of fat in your belly increases your risk for heart attacks and diabetes. People who store fat primarily underneath the skin in their bellies also store a lot of fat around their intestines and in their liver, It is dangerous to your heart to store a lot of fat in your liver.

When you eat, your blood sugar level rises. The higher it rises, the more insulin your pancreas releases to keep your blood sugar level from rising even higher. As soon as insulin does its job of lowering high blood sugar levels, it is grabbed by your liver and removed from the bloodstream. However, fat in the liver prevents liver cells from removing insulin from the bloodstream. Therefore, people who store fat primarily in their bellies also store a lot of fat in their livers, which prevents the liver from removing insulin, which causes you to have very high and prolonged blood levels of insulin.

You need insulin to prevent blood sugar levels from rising too high, but too much insulin constricts arteries to cause heart attacks. It acts on the brain to make you hungry. It acts on the liver to make more fat. It also causes the extra fat to be deposited in the liver, abdomen and underneath the skin in your belly, so you develop a beer belly. Extra fat in the liver causes a condition called fatty liver that eventually can send you into liver failure and kill you. So storing fat primarily in your belly increases your chances of getting a heart attack, diabetes and obesity.