Ask people around you which part of their body they are most insecure about, and the belly will undoubtedly end in the top 3. Many people have a belly, and almost as many people would be more than happy to get rid of it. But how do you get rid of belly fat? Which foods are natural fat burner? Or maybe you can burn belly fat locally? We put the sense and nonsense of a belly fat diet together in this blog.
Is belly fat unhealthy?
Many people want to burn belly fat because they simply don't like it. Certainly if you already have quite a slim body, that pile of fat above the waistband can be somewhat out of place. However, the aesthetic aspect is not the only reason for wanting to get rid of belly fat. There are two types of belly fat: the fat on the surface, and the fat that is deeper around your organs. The surface grease is not very unhealthy.
However, the fat around your organs, also called visceral fat, can significantly increase the risk of heart problems, diabetes and other conditions. If your stomach is mainly a bit soft and 'flabby', then the problem is probably mainly the fat on the surface. But do you have a round, swollen stomach that also feels hard? Then a significant part of the fat is under the solid layer of your abdominal muscles and it is also important for your health that you get rid of the fat as quickly as possible.
Belly fat lose nutrition
So lose belly fat. But how do you do that? The internet often answers that you need certain foods to lose belly fat. Every day a spoonful of apple cider vinegar, for example, or drink extra red fruit. Leaf vegetables and green tea are also common remedies that supposedly burn extra belly fat. But how useful are those kinds of lists? Unfortunately: not very sensible. Yes, there are products that stimulate your fat burning. However, these usually have a minimal effect - your fat burning is not a machine that you can suddenly turn on twice as hard with the right fuel.
And more importantly: even if these types of products burn fat, it is not automatically belly fat . There is no single product that will cause your body to get fat from a specific place. Your fat reserves are seen as one large stock through your combustion, where surpluses are evenly distributed, and deficiencies are equally drawn from everywhere. So no, if you take a spoonful of apple cider vinegar, there isn't a cell in your body that suddenly thinks, "Now we have to get fat from the belly." There is no automatic diet to lose belly fat.
Burn fat locally?
This is related to the idea of burning fat locally. There is still the idea that you can burn belly fat by doing enough abdominal exercises. And yet there are plenty of people who have lost little fat on the stomach with a daily abdominal muscle quarter. This is again because your body does not get fat from where it needs energy. Your metabolism works as a whole, with all supplies used everywhere.
So when you work your abs, the energy for that is drawn from all the fat reserves in your body. And because your abs don't use that much energy, the result is usually pretty meager. So to lose belly fat, you won't have to focus on just your belly. You will have to get so much energy from your body fat that the reserves on your stomach will also be emptied. That means that you need an overall energy deficit - and it does not matter whether you drink apple cider vinegar ...
Belly fat and cortisol
But, you may say now, if it always involves the whole body, what about people who only have too much fat on their stomach? If fat has been proportionally removed from all fat stores, why are their limbs so much slimmer than their bellies? The reason for this is that your body can indeed prefer certain storage places. They just aren't determined by where you do strength training, or what you eat. Instead, an important role is played by your hormones.
Your hormones determine where your body thinks it needs extra reserve. Belly fat, for example, is closely related to an excess of cortisol, the stress hormone. The more cortisol in your body, the harder it will cling to that little bit of fat on your stomach. It burns all other supplies rather than belly fat. So there is an indirect answer to the question “which foods burn belly fat”. Namely: foods that help keep your cortisol levels low. But beware: nutrition is not the only factor there!
Diet against belly fat
Let's take a look at that food first. When it comes to reducing cortisol , two categories are especially important, Vegetables and fruit. It contains vitamins and minerals that help to get rid of cortisol. Omega 3 fats, So eat a portion of oily fish regularly if you want to burn belly fat.
But it is much more important to avoid producing cortisol. If you don't address the causes, you can eat fish until you drop, but it's not really going to help. As mentioned, cortisol is a stress hormone. Your body turns it on when you are very busy, when you are injured or 'need' to take urgent action in some other way. Handy if you are under attack, but causes of cortisol are also:
- Alcohol
- Fast sugars
- To smoke
It is therefore just as important to stop using these products where possible. If you want to get rid of your belly, it is much better to ditch that daily glass of wine than to buy a bottle of apple cider vinegar!