6 Simple Ways to Lose
Belly Fat, Based on Science
Overweight does not necessarily equal
unhealthy.
That’s because the fat under the skin is
actually not that big of a problem (at least not from a health standpoint, it’s
more of a cosmetic problem).
If you have a lot of excess fat around your
waistline, even if you’re not very heavy, then you should take some steps to
get rid of it.
Belly fat is usually estimated by measuring
the circumference around your waist. This can easily be done at home with a
simple tape measure.
Anything above 40 inches (102 cm) in men and
35 inches (88 cm) in women, is known as abdominal obesity.
There are actually a few proven strategies
that have been shown to target the fat in the belly area more than other areas
of the body.
Here are 6 evidence-based ways to lose belly
fat.
1. Don’t eat sugar and avoid sugar-sweetened
drinks
Added sugar is very unhealthy.
Sugar is half glucose, half fructose, and
fructose can only be metabolized by the liver in any significant amount (5).
When you eat a lot of refined sugar, the liver
gets overloaded with fructose, and is forced to turn it all into fat (6).
Numerous studies have shown that excess sugar,
mostly due to the large amounts of fructose, can lead to increased accumulation of fat in
the belly (7).
Some believe that this is the primary
mechanism behind sugar’s harmful effects on health. It increases belly fat and
liver fat, which leads to insulin resistance and a host of metabolic problems (8).
Liquid sugar is even worse in this regard.
Liquid calories don’t get “registered” by the brain in the same way as solid
calories, so when you drink sugar-sweetened beverages, you end up eating more
total calories (9, 10).
Studies show that sugar-sweetened beverages
are linked to a 60% increased risk of obesity in children, per each daily
serving (11).
Make a decision to minimize the amount of
sugar in your diet, and consider completely eliminating sugary drinks.
Keep in mind that none of this applies
to whole fruit, which are extremely healthy and have plenty
of fiber that mitigates the negative effects of fructose.
The amount of fructose you get from fruit is
negligible compared to what you get from a diet high in refined sugar.
If you want to cut back on refined sugar, then
you must start reading labels. Even foods marketed as health foods can contain huge amounts of sugar.
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Bottom Line: Excess sugar consumption may be the primary driver of
belly fat accumulation, especially sugary beverages like soft drinks.
2. Eating more protein is a great long-term
strategy to reduce belly fat
It has been shown to reduce cravings by 60%, boost metabolism by 80-100
calories per day and help you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day (13, 14, 15, 16).
If weight loss is your goal, then adding
protein is perhaps the single most effective change you can do to your diet.
Not only will it help you lose, it can also
help you avoid re-gaining weight if you ever decide to abandon your weight loss
efforts (17, 18).
There is also some evidence that protein is
particularly effective against belly fat.
One study showed that the amount and quality
of protein consumed was inversely related to fat in the belly. That is, people
who ate more and better protein had much less belly fat (19).
Another study in Denmark showed that protein
was linked to significantly reduced risk of belly fat gain over a period of 5
years (20).
This study also showed that refined carbs and
oils were linked to increased amounts of belly fat, but fruits and vegetables
linked to reduced amounts.
Many of the studies showing protein to be
effective had protein at 25-30% of calories. That’s what you should aim for.
So make an effort to increase your intake
of high-protein foods such as whole eggs, fish, seafood, legumes, nuts, meat, dairy products and some whole grains. These are the best
protein sources in the diet.
If you struggle with getting enough protein in
your diet, then a quality protein supplement (like whey protein) is a healthy and convenient way to boost
your total intake.
If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, then check
out this article on how to increase your protein intake.
Bonus tip: Consider cooking your foods
in coconut oil. Some studies have shown that 30 mL (about 2 tablespoons) of
coconut oil per day reduces belly fat slightly (21, 22).
Bottom Line: Eating enough protein is a very effective way to lose
weight. Some studies suggest that protein is particularly effective against
belly fat accumulation.
3. Cut carbs from your diet
Carb restriction is a very effective way to
lose fat.
This is supported by numerous studies. When
people cut carbs, their appetite goes down and they lose weight (23).
Over 20 randomized
controlled trials have now shown
that low-carb diets lead to 2-3 times more weight loss than low-fat diets (24, 25, 26).
This is true even when the low-carb groups are
allowed to eat as much as they want, while the low-fat groups are calorie
restricted and hungry.
Low-carb diets also lead to quick reductions
in water weight, which gives people near instant results. A major difference on
the scale is often seen within a few days.
There are also studies comparing low-carb and
low-fat diets, showing that low-carb diets specifically target the fat in the
belly, and around the organs and liver (27, 28).
What this means is that a particularly high
proportion of the fat lost on a low-carb diet is the dangerous and disease promoting
abdominal fat.
Just avoiding the refined carbs (white breads,
pastas, etc) should be sufficient, especially if you keep your protein high.
However, if you need to lose weight fast, then consider dropping your carbs down to
50 grams per day. This will put your body into ketosis,
killing your appetite and making your body start burning primarily fats for
fuel.
Of course, low-carb diets have many
other health benefits besides just weight loss. They can have life-saving effects in type 2 diabetics, for example (29, 30).
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Bottom Line: Studies have shown that low-carb diets are particularly
effective at getting rid of the fat in the belly area, around the organs and in
the liver.
4. Eat foods rich in fiber, especially viscous
fiber
It is often claimed that eating plenty of
fiber can help with weight loss.
This is true, but it’s important to keep in
mind that not all fiber is created equal.
This gel can dramatically slow the movement of
food through your stomach and small bowel, and slow down the digestion and
absorption of nutrients. The end result is a prolonged feeling of fullness and
reduced appetite (32).
One review study found that an additional 14
grams of fiber per day were linked to a 10% decrease in calorie intake and
weight loss of 2 kg (4.5 lbs) over 4 months (33).
In one 5-year study, eating 10 grams of
soluble fiber per day was linked to a 3.7% reduction in the amount of fat in
the abdominal cavity, but it had no effect on the amount of fat under the skin
(34).
What this implies, is that soluble fiber may
be particularly effective at reducing the harmful belly fat.
The best way to get more fiber is to eat a lot
of plant foods like vegetables and fruit. Legumes are also a good source, as
well as some cereals like oats.
Then you could also try taking a fiber
supplement like glucomannan. This is one
of the most viscous dietary fibers in existence, and has been shown to cause
weight loss in many studies (35, 36).
Bottom Line: There is some evidence that soluble dietary fiber may lead
to reduced amounts of belly fat, which should cause major improvements in
metabolic health.
5. Exercise is very effective at reducing
belly fat
Exercise is important for various reasons.
It is among the best things you can do if you
want to live a long, healthy life and avoid disease.
Getting into all of the amazing health benefits of
exercise is beyond the
scope of this article, but exercise does appears to be effective at reducing
belly fat.
However, keep in mind that I’m not talking
about abdominal exercises here. Spot reduction (losing fat in one spot) is not
possible, and doing endless amounts of crunches will not make you lose fat from
the belly.
In one study, 6 weeks of training just the
abdominal muscles had no measurable effect on waist circumference or the amount
of fat in the abdominal cavity (37).
That being said, other types of exercise can
be very effective.
Aerobic exercise (like walking, running,
swimming, etc) has been shown to cause major reductions in belly fat in
numerous studies (38, 39).
Another study found that exercise completely
prevented people from re-gaining abdominal fat after weight loss, implying that
exercise is particularly important during weight maintenance (40).
Exercise also leads to reduced inflammation,
blood sugar levels and all the other metabolic abnormalities that are
associated with central obesity (41).
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Bottom Line: Exercise can be very effective if you are trying to lose
belly fat. Exercise also has a number of other health benefits.
6. Track your foods and figure out exactly
what and how much you are eating
What you eat is important. Pretty much
everyone knows this.
However, surprisingly, most people actually
don’t have a clue what they are really eating.
People think they’re eating “high protein,”
“low-carb” or whatever, but tend to drastically over- or underestimate.
I think that for anyone who truly wants to
optimize their diet, tracking things for a while is absolutely essential.
It doesn’t mean you need to weigh and measure
everything for the rest of your life, but doing it every now and then for a few
days in a row can help you realize where you need to make changes.
If you want to boost your protein intake to
25-30% of calories, as recommended above, just eating more protein rich foods
won’t cut it. You need to actually measure and fine tune in order to reach that
goal.
Check out these articles here for a calorie calculator and a list of free online tools and apps to track what you are eating.
I personally do this every few months. I weigh
and measure everything I eat to see what my current diet is
looking like.
Then I know exactly where to make adjustments
in order to get closer to my goals.
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