Belly fat is more than a nuisance that makes your clothes feel tight.
It’s seriously harmful.
One type of belly fat — referred to as visceral fat — is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions. Many health organizations use body mass index (BMI) to classify weight and predict the risk of metabolic disease.
However, this is misleading, as people with excess belly fat are at an increased risk even if they look thin.
Though losing fat from this area can be difficult, there are several things you can do to reduce excess abdominal fat.
Here are effective actions to burn off that belly fat, backed by scientific studies.
1. Eat a lot of water-soluble fiber
Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel that helps slow down food as it passes through your digestive system.
Studies show that this type of fiber promotes weight loss by helping you feel full, so you naturally eat less. It may also decrease the number of calories your body absorbs from food
In this way, soluble fiber may help your body demand that fat cells release their fat for energy and this contributes to reduction of fat everywhere and particularly around your waist.
An observational study in over 1,100 adults found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber intake, belly fat gain decreased by 3.7% over a 5-year period.
More important to my thinking; that fiber will improve all of the digestive system and help you be healthier for life.
Make an effort to consume high fiber foods every day. Excellent sources of soluble fiber include:
flax seeds
shirataki noodles
Brussels sprouts
avocados
legumes
blackberries
Soluble fiber will probably help you to lose weight by increasing fullness and reducing calorie absorption. Try to include plenty of high fiber foods in your weight loss diet.
2. Avoid foods that contain trans fats
Trans fats are created by pumping hydrogen into unsaturated fats, such as soybean oil.
They’re found in some margarines and spreads and also often added to packaged foods, but many food producers have stopped using them.
These fats have been linked to inflammation, heart disease, insulin resistance, and abdominal fat gain in observational and animal studies.
A 6-year study found that monkeys who ate a high trans fat diet gained 33% more abdominal fat than those eating a diet high in monounsaturated fat.
To help reduce belly fat and protect your health, read ingredient labels carefully and stay away from products that contain trans fats. These are often listed as partially hydrogenated fats. This includes coffee creamers in powdered form.
Some studies have linked a high intake of trans fat to increased belly fat gain. Regardless of whether you’re trying to lose weight, limiting your intake of trans fat is a good idea.
3. Avoid alcoholic beverages
Alcohol can have health benefits in small amounts, but it’s seriously harmful if you drink too much.
Research suggests that too much alcohol can also make you gain belly fat.
Observational studies link heavy alcohol consumption to a significantly increased risk of developing central obesity — that is, excess fat storage around the waist. Cutting back on alcohol may help reduce your waist size. You don’t need to give it up altogether, but limiting the amount you drink in a single day can help.
One study on alcoholic beverage consumption involved more than 2,000 people.
Results showed those who drank alcoholic beverages daily but averaged less than one drink per day had less belly fat than those who drank less frequently but consumed more alcohol on the days they drank.
Excessive alcohol intake has been associated with increased belly fat. If you need to reduce your waistline, consider drinking alcohol in moderation or abstaining completely.
4. Eat a high protein diet
Protein is an extremely important nutrient for weight management.
High protein intake increases the release of the fullness hormone PYY, which decreases appetite and promotes fullness.
Protein also raises your metabolic rate and helps you to retain muscle mass during weight loss.
Many studies show that people who eat more protein tend to have less abdominal fat than those who eat a lower protein diet, and for good reasons. Breaking protein down in digestion demands more calories than digesting carbohydrates.
Be sure to include a good protein source at every meal, such as:
meat
fish
eggs
dairy
whey protein
beans
High protein foods, such as fish, lean meat, and beans, are ideal if you’re trying to shed some extra pounds around your waist.
4A. Avoid foods made with white flour and white sugar. Avoid white rice and go back to brown rice, and other natural grains. Ideally make your own whole wheat bread. The brown outside of wheat and rice is the source of necessary trace minerals. The milled rice and wheat flour that is white provides a "simple" carbohydrate that becomes blood glucose very quickly, and triggers a response to produce more insulin which pulls the glucose into fat cells. The brown rice and whole wheat slows the digestion process, provides minerals, and a "complex" carbohydrate. The more we mill and adulterate natural food the less it is like food and the more it is like sugar or something created in a chemistry laboratory.
5. Reduce your stress levels
Stress can make you gain belly fat by triggering the adrenal glands to produce cortisol, which is also known as the stress hormone.
Research shows that high cortisol levels increase appetite and drive abdominal fat storage.
Women who already have a large waist tend to produce more cortisol in response to stress. Increased cortisol further adds to fat gain around the middle.
Additionally, fat cells produce more estrogen which leads to more fat gain. Estrogen actually is a growth hormone. Producing more fat produce more estrogen which leads to gaining more fat. You can lose a lot of it with a high protein diet. Lots of green vegetables, and a good brisk 45-minute walk daily. You’ll have to quit entirely, eating white flour, and white sugar in any and all foods and the exercise is required. No excuses and no stubborn behavior is allowed. If you follow this one paragraph’s advice I’m confident 90% of the people reading this will experience weight loss in the right places.
To help reduce belly fat, engage in pleasurable activities that relieve stress. Practicing yoga or meditation can be effective methods. It’s even better to spend some time in meditating of what or what created the Universe as you’re walking. When you find those answers your body and the rest of your life will change dramatically.
I hear a reader thinking; “Oh no. They proved that the universe just fell together accidentally. Everything just evolved.” It’s a cute fantasy that has led to the destruction of society and brought us to the brink of a third world war. There is no proof and no evidence to support this extremely childish, wisdomless fantasy. There is lots of evidence the universe must have been created. There's nothing to prove your greatest great Grand Mama was a lemur. (It's laughably ridiculous.)
Stress may promote fat gain around your waist. Minimizing stress should be one of your priorities if you’re trying to lose weight.
