Dr Zoe Williams discusses visceral fat on This Morning
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Fatty tissue comes in different forms but the one to watch cannot be seen by the eyes. Visceral fat lurks in the spaces between the abdominal organs. Its precarious location means it forms part of metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions, including type 2 diabetes, that raise your risk of heart disease. Reducing visceral fat is therefore key to warding off life-threatening complications.
Fortunately, even simple dietary tweaks can help to reduce visceral fat.
One you can make at home is pomegranate vinegar, a Korean staple that typically mixes a tablespoon of vinegar into pomegranate juice.
A study published in the Journal of Functional Foods investigated the anti-obesity role of a pomegranate vinegar beverage.
Overweight women received either pomegranate vinegar or a placebo for eight weeks.
By the end of the study, drinking pomegranate vinegar resulted in a significant decrease in visceral fat mass.
The researchers assign the belly-busting effect to the beverage’s activation of “AMPK”.
AMP-activated protein kinase, or AMPK, is commonly referred to as a master regulator of metabolism.
The enzyme increases the burning of stored fat.
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“PV [pomegranate vinegar] may act as an excellent AMPK activator,” the researchers concluded.
General dietary principles
Focusing on specific dietary components is important, but to enhance the gains of specific items, you must look at your overall dietary approach.
If you want to reduce your belly fat, you’ll need to burn more calories (energy) than you consume, and eat the right kinds of food.
Bupa says the following can help you to achieve this:
- Make sure you eat a balanced diet. Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg each day, and include higher-fibre starchy foods in meals
- Have some reduced-fat dairy or soya drinks fortified in calcium
- Eat more beans, pulses, fish and eggs
- Eat small amounts of unsaturated oil
- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day
- Avoid adding salt or sugar to your meals.
“And finally, cut out sports drinks, sugar sweetened drinks and other foods that have a lot of added sugar in them,” adds Bupa.
“Be aware that low-fat options might have high amounts of added sugar in them.”
In addition to improving your diet, exercise is integral to losing visceral fat.
Doing something is better than nothing but specific activities have been shown to eliminate visceral fat.
The starting point for combating abdominal fat is regular moderate-intensity physical activity, says Harvard Health.
Moderate activity will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.
According to Harvard Health, you should aim for at least 30 minutes per day (and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day) to control weight and lose belly fat.
“Strength training (exercising with weights) may also help fight abdominal fat,” adds the health body.
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