Not your belly! Doc reveals the first sign of weight gain

Obesity has emerged as a global epidemic. In the United States, one in five children and two in five adults have obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A recent analysis published in The Lancet has predicted that, without proper intervention, 260 million Americans will be overweight or obese by 2050. Obesity does not occur overnight; your body gives you signs long before it turns into a health concern.

In this case, the first sign of weight gain is often ignored. Why? Because the first sign is not what you think. In a video shared on Instagram, Dr William Li, a world-renowned physician and scientist, explains the first sign of weight gain—and it is surprisingly different from what many people believe.

Where do you accumulate fat first?

You might think the first sign of weight gain shows up as belly fat or a fuller face. But guess what? It’s neither. “Weight gain does not start with your muffin top or your thighs,” Dr Li said in a Mel Robbins podcast.

According to the doctor, weight gain starts in a “very subtle way, and this has been studied with clinical research.” Weight gain first happens inside the body as visceral fat. “The first fat that grows is inside your body; you can’t see it. So when you have too many calories and you overflow your fuel tank,” the doctor adds.

So, where do you start accumulating fat first? The tongue! Yes, your tongue gets fat. “The first place anybody starts to gain body fat is in the tongue. The human tongue is made of three parts. You’ve got the tip of the tongue, which is like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. You’ve got the middle of the tongue, which is really strong, packed with muscle, and the back of the tongue is a big fat pillow—a pillow of fat—about a third of it is all fat, to allow food that you’ve chewed up to slide all the way back down into your stomach, okay? And so the back of your tongue is mostly visceral fat, and when you gain weight and start to grow extra body fat, one of the first places that it grows is in the back of your tongue,” the doctor explained.

What is the first sign of weight gain?

Now that you know weight gain shows up on the tongue first, how do you recognise it? Only your bed partner will be able to notice the first sign—because the first sign is snoring. Until then, you might not have snored, but now the snore is waking up your roommate. According to Dr Li, this also happens in thin people.

“What happens is that when you actually start to gain weight and body fat grows in the back of your tongue, your tongue’s getting fatter. Now, what happens when you’re sleeping? You’re relaxing. Your fat tongue starts to relax, occluding your airways. It’s blocking your airway, so you wake up and you snort, you start to snore, and you wake up—and this is what your bed partner notices,” he explains.

“So this has been studied in Scandinavia with thin people who are gaining weight and trying to figure out where it begins. And the tell-tale sign is snoring or being startled when you’re sleeping because the tongue is the first place to get fat,” he adds.

If your partner is complaining about your snoring, maybe it’s time to find out whether you are heading towards obesity.

Note: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting any new medication or treatment, or before changing your diet or supplement regimen.