BELLY FAT DIET:
How to Lose Belly Fat?
Belly Fat Diet and losing belly fat fast is a common concern I hear about in my clinic.
There is no magic trick that will target abdominal fat.
Lets look into what causes an expanding waistline, and how you can make the extra baggage go away.
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Did You Know That There Are Risks
Associated With Belly Fat?
Belly fat is closely linked with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Most precisely, it's the deepest layer of belly fat - the fat you can't see or grab - that poses health risks.
The reason for this is: These "visceral" fat cells actually produce hormones and other substances that can affect your health such as increased insulin resistance and the risk of breast cancer.
The fact that these fat cells are located right next to and in between organs in your abdominal cavity doesn't help.
For example, lets consider a "fatty liver".
Fat next to the liver drains into it, causing a fatty liver, this is a huge risk factor for insulin resistance, stage setting for Type 2 Diabetes.
Before considering a belly fat diet, start with measuring around your waist at the level of your navel. A measurement of more than 35 inches/88.9 cm for women and 40 inches/101.6 cm for men, is considered to be unhealthy.
Aerobic Exercise
You should know that a belly fat diet doesn't "spot-burn" fat. On the other hand, aerobic exercise will facilitate fat loss all over your body, including your belly. Good news: Belly fat is usually the first to burn off when you exercise, regardless of your body shape.
Just be sure that you focus on calorie-burning exercises, rather than sit-ups or crunches.
- Doing only sit-ups and crunches can actually cause the appearance of more belly fat, as the abdominal muscles grow in size and shape, they will push out against the fat, making it appear larger and thicker.
If your abdominal muscles are covered in fat, no strengthening of those muscles is going to change that. Aerobic exercise is what’s needed. An additional benefit of calorie-burning exercises is that it reduces stress and insulin levels, which reduces the presence of cortisol, a hormone that leads to more belly fat deposits: Less cortisol = less belly fat.
Yes it does. You need to restrict your calorie intake, if you’re going to lose belly fat... that simple!
Yes, there are also some tactics that might help do away with belly fat faster, but only when you've already consistently restricted your calorie intake.
For example, eating an avocado after eating an entire bag of chips isn't going to help you get rid of belly fat. In fact, it will make the problem worse!
Here's what you should do to manage your own Belly Fat Diet:
Switch out refined grains for whole grains.
In a scientific study, people who ate all whole grains - in addition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy, and two servings of lean meat, fish, or poultry - lost more belly fat than another group that ate the same diet, but with all refined grains.
The reason for this:
A diet rich in whole grains changes the glucose and insulin response in your body, which hastens the melting of fat, and visceral fat (that deep layer of fat) is easier for your body to burn than the subcutaneous fat under your skin (the fat that you can see and grab).
Studies show that a diet with a higher percentage of monounsaturated fats such as avocados, nuts, seeds, soybeans, and chocolate, can prevent the accumulation of both types of belly fat.
It's not that these fats specifically target abdominal fat in any way; it's that anyone will probably lose weight on a lower calorie diet (regardless of where those calories come from) and as discussed earlier, belly fat is usually the first to go.
Important Tips For a Successful Belly Fat Diet:
Trans fats in margarine, crackers, cookies and anything made with partially hydrogenated oils, seem to result in more fat being deposited in the abdomen, so avoid these as much as you can.
Soluble fibre: Apples, oats and cherries, lowers insulin levels, which, as mentioned earlier, can reduce the presence of cortisol in the stomach.
MUFAs (Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids) can burn more belly fat.
These MUFAs are highly present in the following foods:
- Oils like olive oil and canola oil
- Nuts and seeds like cashew and peanut
- Avocado
- Dark chocolate
- Grape seed oil
- Soybean oil
The way the body distributes fat is largely beyond our
control, if we consider heredity or menopause for instance. However,
what is within our control is our level of body fat overall. If we keep
that low, it won't really matter where the fat goes, because there won't
be much fat to deposit in the first place.
It
is no secret that many women start gaining more weight in their belly
as they get older, especially after menopause. The body fat distribution
changes - less fat goes to your arms, legs and hips, and more of it
goes to the midsection – Some people even find their waistline widening
even though their weight remains the same! Nonetheless, the above steps
will help to do away with belly fat.
