8 Tips to get rid of Belly Fat

8 Tips of How to get rid of Belly Fat

By: Arlene Gentallan

BELLY FAT IS DANGEROUS!!! Your belly fat is a good predictor of your risk of developing cancer, heart disease, diabetes type 2, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol level.

What is belly fat?

        Belly fat, also known as "visceral fat" is the fat under your abdominal skin that surrounds your internal organs. You can actually pinch your abdomen to measure how thick your belly fat is. You have to take your belly fat seriously because it's a good predictor of your risk of developing diseases like cancer, heart diseases, diabetes type 2, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol level.

Body Mass Index & Waist-to-hip ratio

        While your BMI (Body Mass Index) determines if you are underweight, normal, overweight, or obese; your WHR (Waist-to-hip ratio) measures your overall health risk of developing lifestyle related diseases by determining your body's fat distribution. You obtain WHR by dividing your hip circumference with your waist circumference.

The lower your waist-to-hip ratio, the lower is your health risk.

What your waist circumference should be

• For women, waist circumference should be less than 35 inches.
• For men, waist circumference should be less than 40 inches.

If your waist circumference is higher than normal, your health risk is higher.

Are you apple shaped or pear shaped?

        People with apple shaped body carries more fat on their waist while pear shaped people carries more fat on their hip.

People with apple shaped body have higher health risk.

Belly fat puts danger into your health. Better start shedding those fats! Here are essential tips to fatten your belly.

TIPS TO FLATTEN YOU BELLY

1. Green Tea

        Green tea loaded with antioxidants such as catechins. A cup of tea without sugar contains only 2 calories. It is beneficial in weight reduction because it stimulates the body's metabolism to burn fat. There are several research proving green tea's valuable effect of reducing belly fat especially when combined with exercise.

Related Articles: Health Benefits of Green Tea

2. Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup

        Soft drinks, fruit juice, jams and other processed foods contain high amount of high fructose corn syrup. You should avoid these foods because our liver tend to convert fructose into fats. Make it a habit to read the label of the food and drinks before buying. If it contains high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient, you know it's not a good choice.

3. Fiber

        Adding more fiber to your diet can reduce your belly fat. Water soluble fiber forms a viscous solution with water thus lowering your gut absorption of cholesterol.

Related Articles: Find out why fiber is good for you

4. Eat more protein

        Don't eat too much carbohydrate and fat, instead switch to protein. Eating protein rich foods tends to eliminate cravings, which is a major culprit why people fail when it comes to dieting. Research also suggest that people who eat more protein tend to have lesser belly fat.

5. Aerobic exercise

        Aerobic exercise is the best form of exercise to shed off those excess fat. Walking, running, swimming, jogging, cycling...any form of excercise that increases your heart rate. Make it a habit to do aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes a day. If you can't motivate yourself to exercise on your own, make it a habit to go to the gym on a regular basis. It will pay a lot to your health.

6. Sleep

        Sleep 8 hours a day. You burn more calories when you are sleeping than when you are awake. Sleep is essential for the body to facilitate repair and regeneration. 

7. Fight stress

        Stress is a major culprit explaining people's tendency to overeat. Be wary of your tendency to overeat when you are stressed. Try alternative stress reliever like listening to music, chatting with friends, or taking a break. Find something that will ease your stress aside from eating.

8. Vitamin C

According to a study by Johnston:

"Individuals with adequate vitamin C status oxidize 30% more fat during a moderate exercise bout than individuals with low vitamin C status; thus, vitamin C depleted individuals may be more resistant to fat mass loss." 

Vitamin C is essential if you want to loose more fat during exercise.