If you've got fat around your belly, take heed--and if you don't yet have any, take steps to prevent it. Belly fat--especially when it's deep within the abdominal cavity--indicates significantly increased risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and stroke. Deep belly fat is biologically active, producing hormones and chemicals that cause inflammation all over the body, which sets the stage for disease. Follow a diet that fights belly fat to lower your risk.
Avoid Trans Fat
Trans fat--a fat made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil--encourages weight gain in the belly and is particularly damaging to cardiovascular health. Trans fat is added to many foods, such as baked goods, snacks, chips, fried foods, frozen foods, popcorn and margarine, to improve taste, texture and shelf-life. Trans fat is linked to the development of belly fat, weight gain, increased blood fats, blood vessel damage and an abnormal response to insulin that paves the way for type 2 diabetes, according to a study reported in the June 2009 issue of "Nature Reviews Endocrinology." Make efforts to reduce trans fat in your diet to prevent belly fat and chronic disease.
Consume Monounsaturated Fats
Include heart-healthy monounsaturated fat in your diet to prevent or reduce belly fat. Monounsaturated fat--found in foods including avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds, olives and peanut butter--prevents the distribution of fat to the belly. This healthy fat also improves insulin sensitivity, reduces harmful fats in the blood and lowers the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Include foods that contain monounsaturated fats in your diet each day to prevent belly fat.
Alcohol in Moderation
It's long been claimed that alcohol causes the accumulation of belly fat, hence the term beer belly. Generally, alcohol causes weight gain because it's high in calories, increases the appetite and decreases the body's ability to burn fat. Alcohol may also cause weight gain specifically in the belly in people who drink occasionally but have four or more drinks in one sitting, according to study results published in "The Journal of Nutrition" in 2003. Those who had just one drink each day had the least amount of belly fat among drinkers.
Reduce High-Fructose Corn Syrup
High-fructose corn syrup--an industrially produced sweetener made from corn--was found to cause an abnormal increase in belly fat and in body fat in general, according to a 2010 study by Princeton University's Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. High-fructose corn syrup is an inexpensive sweetener favored by the food industry and used in many products, such as colas and other sugary soft drinks, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup, mayonnaise and fruit juice. The average American consumes about 60 lbs. of high-fructose corn syrup each year because this sweetener is in so many foods and beverages. Cut down your intake of high-fructose corn syrup to prevent belly fat.
References
- Diabetes Care: Monounsaturated Fat--Rich Diet Prevents Central Body Fat Distribution ...
- National Public Radio: Study Offers Another Incentive For Flat Abs
- Nature Reviews Endocrinology: Trans Fatty Acids: Effects on Metabolic Syndrome, Heart Disease and Diabetes
- News at Princeton: A Sweet Problem: Researchers at Princeton Find that High Fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerably More Weight Gain
- The New York Times: The Claim: Calories From Alcohol Go to Your Midsection
- American Heart Association: Monounsaturated Fats
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