Abdominal fat — also known as visceral or abdominal fat — is the metabolically “active” fat that is stored around major organs like the liver and is linked to serious diseases like cancer and diabetes. “Reducing waist size is imperative to reduce the risk of chronic diseases,” says David B. Samadi, MD. “It won’t happen overnight, but the sooner you start working on losing belly fat, the sooner you reduce your chance of developing heart disease.” Here are five proven ways to get rid of belly fat, according to doctors. Read on and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure signs you’ve already had COVID.
There’s a lot of evidence linking lack of sleep (less than seven hours a night) to excess weight, especially belly fat, so if you want to keep belly fat in check, prioritize sleep. “Normally, fat is preferentially deposited subcutaneously or under the skin,” says Virend Somers, MD, PhD. “However, inadequate sleep appears to redirect fat to the more dangerous visceral compartment. Importantly, although there was a decrease in calorie intake and weight during recovery sleep, visceral fat continued to increase. This suggests that the Inadequate sleep is a previously unrecognized trigger for visceral fat deposition, and that getting back to sleep, at least in the short term, does not reverse visceral fat accumulation. In the long term, these findings imply that inadequate sleep contributes to epidemics of obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is key to reducing belly fat, experts say. “Avoid skipping meals and keep meal times as consistent as possible.” says Dr Samadi. “This reduces the hunger pangs that lead to cravings for high-calorie convenience foods like chips, candy, or other high-fat, high-sugar, high-calorie foods and beverages. Going no more than four hours without eating helps stabilize blood sugar levels and keep your metabolism running smoothly.
Spending too much time sitting is linked to increased belly fat, so be sure to move frequently throughout the day. “Since it’s so hard for people to lose weight and keep it off, it’s best to prevent weight gain in the first place.” says Harvard Health. “Encouragingly, there is strong evidence that staying active can help people slow down or avoid the ‘midlife spread’: the more active people are, the more likely they are to keep their weight stable; the more sedentary , the more likely they are to gain weight over time.”
Unfortunately, stress and excess weight, especially abdominal fat, are closely related. “Stress creates a fight or flight response on the part of the body, which causes adrenaline to spike,” says Emmie Satrazemis, RD, CSSD. “When stress is channeled in a negative way, such as when daily or chronic stress from life events doesn’t create the need for immediate performance, the excess nutrients released by your stress response can be stored as belly fat. So it’s no wonder excess stress could be keeping you from losing weight.”
Exercising is not only great for your overall physical and mental health, but it can also help shed belly fat. “Try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week,” says Dr Samadi. “Break this down into 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. The greater the frequency, duration, and intensity of physical activity, the more weight you’ll lose, particularly in the abdominal area. Aand to protect your life and that of others, do not visit any of these 35 places where you are most likely to get COVID.
Ferozan Mast
Ferozan Mast is a science, health, and wellness writer who is passionate about making information backed by science and research accessible to a general audience. read more
