https://www.healthline.com/health/what-causes-love-handles

What are love handles?

“Love handles” are areas of skin that extend outward from the hips. When combined with tight clothing, love handles become more pronounced, but they aren’t caused by tight clothing alone. They indicate excess fat accumulation around the hips and abdominal area.

What causes love handles?

The underlying cause of love handles is fat retention.

Generally speaking, fat cells accumulate when your body takes in too many calories or you don’t burn as many calories as you’re consuming. Over time, these fat cells can become noticeable as they accumulate in certain areas, such as around your waist and hips.

Fat can accumulate anywhere in the body, but there are certain factors that increase the likelihood for retaining fat in the hip, lower back and abdominal areas. Factors that contribute to love handle formation include:

  • hormones, especially too much cortisol1;
  • age (belly fat accumulation is particularly common as you get older);
  • lack of physical activity;
  • diet high in fats, sugars and high-calorie foods;
  • sleep deprivation;
  • undiagnosed or untreated conditions that slow down your metabolism, making you difficult to burn off extra calories.

Do love handles pose risks?

Love handles aren’t dangerous, but they may indicate underlying risk factors for chronic illnesses. These include:

  • high blood pressure (hypertension);
  • high cholesterol;
  • heart disease;
  • sleep apnea2;
  • stroke;
  • type 2 diabetes;
  • cancer, especially of the colon and breast;
  • liver disease;
  • osteoarthritis.

Preventing love handles may help boost your overall health.

  1. (/‘kɔːtɪsɒl/) It functions to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis, to suppress the immune system, and to aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It also decreases bone formation. ↩︎

  2. (/æp’nɪə/) A term for suspension of external breathing. ↩︎