We all know that being overweight is bad for our health but did you know that studies have linked belly fat in particular to serious health risks, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer? Luckily, the boffins in white coats have also provided us with some surprising ways to get a flat tummy…
Don’t skip cheese
Slimmers often eliminate dairy from their diet in an effort to lose weight – but there’s good reason to snack on cheese. A studies say that cutting back on dairy can trigger the body to boost production of fat cells thanks to higher levels of our old friend calcitrol. Eat some low-fat dairy and the calcium will suppress the calcitrol, allowing your body to break down fat better and make fat cells leaner.
Power walk every day
Exercise is one of the best ways to lose a spare tyre but it doesn’t have to be hardcore. According to a study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center, adults who walked or jogged just 12 miles per week gained no visceral fat, while their sedentary counterparts gained 9% fat in six months.
Jog for 20 miles per week and you’ll lose both visceral and subcutaneous fat around the middle. So there isn’t a mountain to climb. Jogging or power walking for 30 minutes each day will burn 300-400 calories and make a real difference to your belly fat.
Eat fat (yes, really)
Regular visits to McDonald’s won’t do your waistline any favours but eating the right kind of fat can make a surprising difference to your mid-section. A report published in the British Journal of Nutrition claimed that a diet rich in monounsaturated fats (think nuts, avocados and olive oils) helped people to lose belly fat without reducing their calorie consumption.
Catch some rays
As unlikely as it may sound, not getting enough sunshine could affect your ability to ditch that pot belly.When you’re low in vitamin D, your levels of the hormone calcitrol rise, and high levels of this substance cause the body to hoard fat. Vitamin D is also believed to work with calcium to help reduce the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes the body to store belly fat.
Stress less
When you’re stressed, your body releases the hormone cortisol, which stimulates appetite and induces cravings for sugary, fatty foods. Unfortunately, it also gives your body a clear signal that fat needs to be stored for emergency fuel. So, if the work day is getting away from you and you’re already considering that sugary snack, take five and breathe deeply instead.
Intervals are out
While previous studies have claimed that interval training – short bursts of high-intensity activity interspersed with lower-energy bursts – is a belly fat-busting marvel, a recent Australian study says the opposite.
Sydney University researchers found that overweight or inactive people who performed interval training three days a week for 12 weeks actually gained 0.7% abdominal fat. By contrast, those who stuck with traditional aerobic exercise, in this case a 45-minute bike ride three days a week, lost 2.7% of their tummy fat over the same period.
Lift some weights
Don’t stop at cardio.
Eat orange vegetables
Fresh fruit and vegetables are good for you – it’s no secret. But if belly fat is your particular problem, it could pay to fill your plate with orange and yellow varieties.
Betacarotene and lycopene, both of which give colour to veggies such as carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and apricots, are known to have an effect on your waistline. A 2009 study in the Journal of Nutrition concluded that those who ate high amounts of yellow and orange vegetables had less body fat in general, but also smaller waists.
It’s all about the core
Most of us mistakenly believe that sit-ups are the key to perfecting a flat tummy. It turns out that cardio – you need to shift the excess weight first – combined with exercises that build core strength, like the plank, could be more effective at getting a flat tummy than doing endless crunches.
Sleep it off
Could lack of shut-eye be causing your middle-age spread?Men and women who slept for five hours or less each night saw an average 32% gain in visceral fat over five years, while those who averaged six or seven hours per night gained only 13%. Scientists believe that lack of sleep alters appetite-regulating hormones, causing you to overeat.
Eat some almonds
High in monounsaturated fat – the friend of the flat tummy – snacking on almonds could help to speed up your fab abs programme. A study conducted by Loma Linda University in California found that dieters who ate a handful of almonds each day lost 62% more weight overall, and 56% more fat than their non-nutty counterparts.
Bring on the beans
Want to put a stop to waistline weight gain? Fill up on beans and legumes such as lentils and chickpeas. Research published in the European Journal of Nutrition in 2012 revealed that these protein and fibre-rich little wonders help to stabilise blood sugar levels. That means you’ll be avoiding the blood sugar highs and lows that cause your body to store extra pounds around the middle. They keep you feeling full too, reducing the temptation to overeat.