Recently, the Weibo topic #女性的小肚子是为了保护子宫卵巢# rushed to the hot search, causing widespread attention. Many people believed it and said: "I finally found the meaning of existence for my little belly!"
But in fact, this statement is not rigorous. The uterus and ovaries are mainly protected by the pelvis and fixed by ligaments, and the fat does not wrap the uterus and ovaries, which plays a very small protective role. And too little or too much fat is not good, and maintaining it in moderation is the key.
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A small belly does not protect the uterus and ovaries
The space within the human torso can be roughly divided into three parts: the thoracic cavity, the abdominal cavity, and the pelvic cavity. The chest cavity is protected by the ribs to protect the heart and lungs; there are many organs involved in digestion in the abdominal cavity, such as the stomach, intestines, liver, and gallbladder, and the bones have few restrictions on it, so it is convenient to eat more whenever you want; below the abdominal cavity is the pelvis, and the space in the pelvis is called the pelvic cavity, and the uterus, ovaries, bladder, and rectum are all in it.
Image from wiki
The border of the pelvis in front of the body can be felt all the way down the navel, called the pubic symphysis, which is a landmark point that distinguishes the abdomen from the perineum. When we talk about "small belly", we generally refer to the area between the navel and the pubic symphysis, and that's when the problem arises.
The uterus and ovaries are located in the pelvis and basically do not extend beyond the plane of the pubic symphysis, and when we perform gynecological examinations, we often need to lift the uterus upwards to reach the top of the normal uterus from the abdomen. The back of the belly is not the uterus and ovaries at all, so how can it protect the uterus and ovaries? So don't rely on the belly to protect the uterus and ovaries.
The real protectors: the pelvis and ligaments
Just as the skull is to the brain and the ribs are to the heart and lungs, the pelvis provides solid protection for the uterus and ovaries, but it also plays a role in fixing the ligaments.
The uterus and ovaries in the pelvis are not stacked in cupboards like pots and pans, and they all have their own ligaments to ensure that they remain in a relatively stable position. The uterus has four sets of ligaments, some of which hold the uterus in place from below to prevent it from prolapsing down the vagina, some maintain the uterus in the middle position from both sides without twisting from side to side, and some maintain the shape of the uterus tilting forward and bending forward. The ovaries on each side also have two ligaments, one to the pelvis and one to the uterus, ensuring that the ovaries are always in a relatively fixed position.
With the protection of the pelvis, the uterus and ovaries, two important organs, will not be easily impacted by external forces, and with the fixation of ligaments, the uterus and ovaries will not twist or roll together at will during large activities such as turning over and jumping, and they will hurt each other. Therefore, the pelvis and ligaments are the real protectors of the uterus and ovaries.
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The role that fat plays
The hot search topic also mentions: "The uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes are tightly wrapped by soft belly fat", this sentence may still make some friends still look forward to it: maybe the fat is still a little protective?
Again, the answer is: unfortunately, no.
If you look closely at the picture below, you will see that the uterus and ovaries are actually very clean, and there is no fat "tightly wrapped". Gynecologists operate on uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes without ever having to uncover the fat that wraps them. The yellow tissue marked "fat" in the figure is the fat of the mesentery or omentum, which has the function of keeping warm, cushioning, shock absorption and protection for the gastrointestinal tract, and also participates in some immune and metabolic processes, which is important for the gastrointestinal tract, but does not directly protect the uterus and ovaries.
Screenshot of Weibo
Returning to the topic of this article, the production of "small belly" is mainly due to the accumulation of subcutaneous fat in the lower abdomen, and the fat of the omentum and mesentery belong to visceral fat, and the subcutaneous fat is separated by multiple layers of muscle and fascia, which are actually two different things. Visceral fat itself does not directly protect the uterus and ovaries, and the argument that subcutaneous fat has a protective effect is even less convincing.
However, fat is not useless for the uterus and ovaries. The human body needs a moderate amount of fat to maintain a variety of physiological functions, and too little or too much fat is not good.
Low body weight increases the risk of infection, which means that people who are too thin are more likely to catch colds, flu or other pathogens, and low body fat percentage can also lead to hypothalamic amenorrhea, which can affect estrogen levels, which in turn can lead to bone loss and other low estrogen-related problems.
Needless to say, the harm of excessive fat is not to mention, in terms of female reproductive system health alone, excessive body fat can affect ovulation and menstrual cycles, and may also increase the risk of endometriosis, uterine fibroids, endometrial polyps, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer and other diseases. For women planning to have children, obesity is also a detriment to conception and pregnancy health.
So, being too thin and too fat is not healthy. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents recommend that the BMI (calculation method and unit: weight kg÷ square of height m) for healthy adults (18~64 years old) should be kept at 18.5~23.9kg/m2, and the BMI of the elderly over 65 years old should be slightly higher, 20~26.9kg/m2. As long as the body fat is within the right range, there is no need to worry about a small belly, health itself is beautiful! As for the uterus and ovaries, they are protected by pelvis and ligaments, so don't expect too much from a small belly!
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Source丨Science refutes rumors