Yes. Inflammation and especially fatty liver cause a potbelly.
I forget the type fat that accumulates in the belly area, (visceral I think) but it is really hard to get rid of, as it is the last fat the body will utilize. The other kind of fat is subcutaneous. You can pinch subQ fat but see the bulging visceral fat from your abdomen but cannot pinch it as it is deeper within your body.
It's the visceral fat that causes all the bad stuff, like higher triglycerides and heart problems. There are relatively easy ways to get rid of it, but it's expensive and involves a weekly injection with a needle that is about 3/4" long and they are pretty painful. Prescription only and usually only if you are type2 diabetic. GLP-1 drugs.
Bydureon, Ozempic, Trulicity and a couple of others. I used bydureon for about 3 months and lost so much belly fat I had to cut my belts down in length and my jeans were falling off me. I believe they have at least one that is oral nowadays.
SubQ fat is usually all the way around belly, ass and extends down into the thighs front and back, giving you the pear shape, and visceral fat is usually or predominantly out in front and people with it are said to be more apple shaped.
After leaving the military, I have rarely eaten 3 meals/day. Maybe a bowl of oatmeal in the mornings but usually just 1 meal a day, late in the day or even at night and most of my problems come from, (as others have said) from too much 'white stuff'. Bread, rice and flour tortillas. Even my cardiologist told me I can eat all the beef I want but lay off the rice and white bread.