If you've got excess belly fat and love handles, take action. Belly fat is a metabolically active fat that produces hormones and other substances associated with chronic diseases, including high blood pressure, diabetes and a fatty liver. Avoid foods that cause excessive fat accumulation in your abdominal area.
Low-Fiber Foods
If you eat a low-fiber diet, you're missing the belly-fat-fighting benefits of soluble fiber. A 2011 study led by Dr. Kristen Hairston of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that eating more soluble fiber along with getting a moderate amount of exercise reduced visceral fat deep within the belly. Good sources of soluble fiber include dried peas, lentils, beans, oatmeal, nuts, seeds, apples, pears, strawberries and blueberries.
Foods With High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Foods and beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup are suspected of causing excessive weight gain that targets your midsection. In 2010, researchers at Princeton University studied the effects of high-fructose corn syrup on lab animals and found those consuming the industrially made sweetener became obese and had significant increases in abdominal fat and triglycerides. HFCS is found in many products, including soda, sugary soft drinks, ketchup, bread, jam, cereal and yogurt.
Refined Grain Foods
Give up refined-grain foods, such as white bread and white rice, and eat whole grains instead to lose belly fat. Two groups of overweight study participants were put on a heart-healthy weight loss diet with just one important difference -- one group ate refined grains and the other ate whole grains. Although subjects in both groups lost the same amount of weight, the whole-grain group lost significantly more belly fat, according to researchers at Penn State. Eat foods such as brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain cereal, popcorn and whole wheat bread. To get real whole-grain foods, choose foods that list a whole grain as the first ingredient.
Foods With Trans Fats
Foods that contain trans fat not only cause abnormal weight gain but also contribute disproportionately to belly fat. Trans fat, a man-made fat also called partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, is found in foods such as margarine, vegetable shortening, crackers, cookies, snack foods, commercially made baked goods and fried foods. Instead, eat foods rich in monounsaturated fat to keep your waistline under control. Foods rich in monounsaturated fats include canola oil, olive oil, many seeds and nuts, avocado and peanut butter.
References
- HealthDay; Soluble Fiber Appears Key to Trimming 'Bad Fat'; 2011
- Princeton University; A Sweet Problem: Researchers Find That High-Fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerable More Weight Gain; Hilary Parker; 2010
- ScienceDaily; Whole Grain Diets Lower Risk of Chronic Disease, Study Shows; 2008
- ScienceDaily: Trans Fat Leads to Weight Gain Even on Same Total Calories, Animal Study Shows; 2006
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fiber: Start Roughing It!
- American Heart Association: Monounsaturated Fats
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