Natural Way To Cut Belly Fat

Having too much belly fat is not only unflattering to your appearance, it can endanger your health. The greater amount of fat you have around your waist, the higher your risk for certain diseases like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, notes the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. If you are a man with a waist circumference larger than 40 inches or a woman with one larger than 35 inches, take natural measures to cut belly fat.

Step 1

Eat a reduced-calorie diet. Intake fewer calories than you burn off daily to lose weight all over, including your belly. Use a calorie estimator, like the one at MyPyramid.gov, to determine your calorie needs for weight loss.

Step 2

Include more whole grains in your low-calorie diet. Choose whole-wheat bread, whole-grain cereal, wheat pasta and brown rice instead of those made with enriched, white flours. A study in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" from January 2008 found that following a low-calorie diet results in weight loss and lowered risk factors for heart disease. It also found that participants that ate whole grains instead of refined grains lost a greater percentage of body fat in the abdominal region.

Step 3

Exercise vigorously most days of the week. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes of brisk walking or other equivalent intensity exercise five or more days per week suggests Anne McTiernan, a researcher from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle in the February 25, 2003 issue of "USA Today." Visceral belly fat may be the first fat you lose when you exercise to lose weight, she notes.

Step 4

Cut out trans fats found in commercially fried foods and packaged snacks. Read food labels and look for the line item listing "trans fats" -- even if it lists trans fats as zero, skim the ingredient list for the words "partially hydrogenated" as this indicates there are still trace amounts of the man-made fat in the product. The ingestion of trans fats correlates with belly fat accumulation in monkeys in a study published in a 2007 issue of "Obesity." Monkeys that ate a diet with just enough calories to maintain their weight but included trans fats gained weight at their abdomen, while monkeys eating the same number of calories without trans fats did not experience significant weight gain.

Tips and Warnings

Eat at least 3 oz. of whole grains daily suggests the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More is better. Be patient with your weight loss and belly fat loss process. Remember that even small reductions in weight and waist size can improve health, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Exercising more than just 40 minutes per day may increase your rate of loss of belly fat. A study from the July 7, 2005 issue of the "Journal of Applied Physiology" indicated that jogging the equivalent of 20 miles per week does stimulate belly fat loss over more moderate approaches to exercise.
Check with your health provider before embarking on a new diet or exercise plan.