Belly fat poses threats to your health as well as your silhouette. Your quest for a flat stomach might lie in a desire to hit the beach shirtless or in a tiny bikini, but a tiny tummy bulge won't kill you. Significant belly fat, however, increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and strokes. No official fat tummy diet exists, but a too-good-to-be-true Flat Belly Diet may give you unrealistic expectations about the serious task of slimming your tummy.
Body Fat Distribution
Fat distribution can be android or gynoid in nature. In android fat distribution, excess fat is distributed around the abdominal area of the body. An apple-shaped body indicates android fat distribution. The Food and Nutrition Research Institute says this kind of distribution puts excess fat around your vital organs and can lead to diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart attacks. Gynoid fat distribution tends to accumulate fat mainly on the hips, giving you a pear shaped body. If you're pear-shaped, excess weight will less likely cause chronic disease.
Genetics
Excess tummy fat is related to genetics. The chances of being overweight and carrying a tummy rests partly in your family history. But, food and lifestyle choices also play important roles. If your evening routine includes beer, pepperoni pizza and TV, you can't blame your DNA for accumulated tummy fat. A moderate diet that includes more fruits and vegetables and fewer refined carbohydrates -- sugar, white bread and commercial baked goods -- will help you lose weight. If you gain proportionately more weight around your middle, you will lose more from that area as well. Rather than follow a drastic diet, consider small changes -- vegetable toppings on your pizza and smaller portions -- that you can stick with over time.
Flat Belly Diet
The Flat Belly Diet, launched by "Prevention" magazine and featured on "Good Morning America," promises results in just four days. The diet includes an online program to help you customize your meal plans. You can also obtain online recipes and tips about achieving and keeping a flat tummy. The diet sharply curtails carbohydrates in its anti-bloat phase. A reduction in carbohydrates helps you shed water weight, so you may experience quick -- but temporary -- weight loss.
Monounsatured Fatty Acids
The second phase of the Fat Belly Diet includes about 1,600 calories a day and concentrates on foods low in monounsaturated fatty acids. This four-week phase, sometimes called the MUFA phase -- includes a lot of fruits and vegetables and MUFA-rich foods such as olive oil, flax and some nuts. You will likely lose weight on the diet, but its promise of losing 15 lb. in 32 days may go unfulfilled. No evidence suggests the Flat Belly Diet targets your tummy better than other diets, but adding healthy fats and fiber to your diet can reduce your cholesterol and lower your risk for some diseases.
References
- "USA Today"; Belly Full of Danger; Nanci Hellmich: Feb. 25 2003
- Food and Nutrition Research Institute: Waist and Hip Measures Can Predict Risk to Diabetes, Heart Disease
- Love to Know Diet: What Foods Cause Belly Fat; Angela Hermes
- MayoClinic.com: Belly Fat in Men: Why Weight Loss Matters
- Flat Belly Diet:
- MayoClinic.com: What's the Flat Belly Diet, and Can it Help You Lose Weight?
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