tricks to losing bodyfat whats the real buzz

Denise297fit

IS THERE 'ONE TRICK' TO LOSING BELLY FAT?
The skinny on belly fat — and how to get rid of it.
How to get rid of belly fat from Rush

Are you intrigued by those Internet ads claiming to know "the secret to shedding belly fat" or "the one trick to losing belly fat"? Do you send away for the latest exercise DVDs because they promise you washboard abs? Have you tried dietary supplements or weight loss pills to whittle

Having too much fat is always bad, but when you’re talking about cardiovascular health,

Q: What are those factors that can lead to belly fat?
Kazlauskaite: Normally, there's supposed to be some fat in the belly, the same way there's supposed to be some fat under the skin, around the heart, blood vessels and tendons, and in the bone marrow. This fat is thought to be protective, so if people exercise and diet and lose too much fat, that can be bad too.

But when people become overweight and accumulate extra fat, then the fat distribution matters. What seems to influence fat distribution most are genetics, gender and age. Those are the factors we cannot change.

But then we also know that with stress, with overeating and with physical inactivity, belly fat can accumulate out of proportion to the other areas where fat is supposed to be deposited.

Dr. Dugan and I were part of a recent study that showed that excess energy intake (meaning extra calories) through eating is a very important factor in belly fat gain, along with physical activity and stress. Those are all factors we can change.

Q: Is there really 'one trick' or 'one secret' to losing belly fat, as so many ads claim?
Kazlauskaite: When ads claim a "one trick" solution, you should remember that their main objective is to sell their product rather than to help you. Good marketing means one message, because it is hard to follow too many things at once. So they focus on one fad, and that tickles your curiosity and you click on the link to go their website.

Typically, however, there are many things you may need to improve to lose belly fat. I would say start by focusing on changing or improving one thing. Then, once you conquer that first objective, you can move on to the next thing, and so on.

One good place to start improving your food choices is to eliminate sugary drinks — and not just soda, but juices. Sugar increases belly fat and fiber reduces belly fat; thus when you're juicing fruits, you're removing the fiber, leaving pure sugar. So one quick fix, a very concrete fix, would be eliminating sugary drinks.

Recent studies have shown that sugar overuse is very widespread. Even kids who are growing and need energy should be consuming less than 14 tsp. of sugar per day, and right now, the average kid consumes around 40 tsp. a day, which is far too much. That 40 tsp. includes not just table sugar that we sprinkle on foods, but sugar hidden in foods and drinks.

Replacing sugary beverages with water will help dramatically cut down your sugar intake, and then once you've taken that step, you can figure out how to cut down on foods that are high in sugar.

The next "trick" would be to start your meal, especially your largest meal, with seasoned vegetables, be it vegetable soup or the half-plate of vegetables on your entrée plate (remember that vegetables should always comprise half of your plate). Eating the vegetables first will leave less room for other foods that aren't as healthy, because vegetable fiber is filling.

Fruit is not a substitute for vegetables, but if you have a sweet tooth and need put that final accent to your meal, eat an apple
There has to be a balance between energy in and energy out, or food intake
Long ago, Hipppocrates said, "walking is man’s best medicine," and even with all the advances in medicine in the centuries since, that statement still holds true. In both men and women, the first fat you lose when you exercise is visceral fat.

Q: How much physical activity do you need to start losing belly fat?
Kazlauskaite: The recommendation is 150 minutes per week or more of moderate physical activity. By moderate physical activity, we mean you are going at a pace where you can carry on a conversation, but you still break a sweat and raise your heart rate.

Dugan: That's really important, because if your leisure time involves sitting around on the sofa or in a chair, you might actually be offsetting the positive health effects of exercising even if you're working out regularly.

There was a study that showed people who sit eight to nine hours a day, even if they exercise the recommended 150 minutes per week, do not get the same benefits of exercising as people who are more active throughout day

Q: But can't you simply reduce belly fat by doing a lot of sit-ups or other exercises that target the abdominal area?
Dugan: Unfortunately, sit-ups and crunches can't eliminate visceral fat directly. You can't reduce fat from specific parts of your body by exercising that body part; our bodies simply don't work that way.

With sit-ups or other abdominal exercises, you're toning the abdominal muscles but not burning this intra-abdominal fat. The key, really, is to lower your overall body fat with moderate intensity physical activity and a healthy diet; when you reduce your total body fat, you'll also be reducing your belly fat.

However, while sit-ups can't "target" belly fat, what they can do is help you burn calories, strengthen your core and develop more muscle. Because muscle is more metabolically active than fat, the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn when you're at rest.

And burning those extra calories can help you achieve and maintain a healthier weight in conjunction with regular cardiovascular exercise and a healthy diet. So if you want to do abdominal exercises, make them part of your fitness routine. Just don't treat them as a substitute for the recommended 150 minutes of weekly moderate intensity physical

It’s been speculated that depression triggers the accumulation of visceral fat by means of certain chemical changes in the body — like the production of cortisol, which is a stress hormone — but we’re still trying to pinpoint the exact mechanism.

Kazlauskaite: That finding is in line with research findings that depression, anxiety and tension — all markers of stress — are associated with belly fat accumulation.

It’s not just that you tend to eat more when you’re stressed, it’s also what you eat. Typically, when you’re stressed you reach for what most people call comfort foods and what scientists and behavioral experts call “reward foods”: salty, sweet and creamy foods.

But another significant factor is what Dr. Dugan mentioned, the stress hormone response. Cortisol, in particular, seems to influence fat accumulation around the belly. We know that not only from research studies, but also from noticing that people with adrenal gland tumors, which cause cortisol overproduction, tend to have more belly fat and thinner arms and legs. So we can see that in nature, the stress hormone cortisol can drive abnormal fat distribution.

Dugan: That's why reducing stress is crucial to both preventing the buildup of belly fat and to losing existing belly fat.

Stress is essentially an imbalance between demands and resources. To help achieve more of a balance, I recommend carving out some time every day for an activity that will help you destress, whether it’s yoga or going for a walk or gardening or getting a massage. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time; even 30 minutes or an hour will be beneficial.

Adults, especially women, are often taking care of so many other people that they neglect to take care of themselves. But if you’re constantly putting yourself last, ignoring your own needs, the stress can get the better of you, and one of the things that can happen is you end up with more belly fat, which can lead to health problems that cause

This is reflected in the fact that when we look at the diagnostic markers for metabolic syndrome, men are allowed to have a wider waist: a woman’s waist should be under 35 inches, but men are allowed a waist girth of up to 40 inches.

As for what those markers are, having a large waist — that apple body shape — is one, although as Dr. Kazlauskaite pointed out, men are allowed to have a slightly larger waistline than women. The other four are high levels of triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood); low HDL, or "good," cholesterol; high blood pressure; and a high fasting blood sugar level.

If you have three of these five markers, you're considered to have metabolic syndrome and should talk to your doctor about how to reduce your risk factors, including reducing your belly fat. You don’t want to wait until you develop diabetes or heart disease to take action.

Q: Is it true that visceral fat in women tends to increase during menopause?
Dugan: Yes. It's an interesting phenomenon, really. When that delicate balance of estrogen to testosterone shifts toward testosterone during the menopausal transition, the distribution of fat also shifts and women tend to accumulate more belly fat.

In men, we know that when their testosterone decreases naturally as they age, they tend to accumulate belly fat, but in women it isn't really about having more testosterone, it's about upsetting the estrogen-testosterone balance.

We used to think estrogen protected premenopausal women against cardiovascular disease and that the increased cardiovascular risk after menopause was related only to the loss of estrogen’s protective effect. But now we know that it's actually the change in hormonal balance that's largely responsible for visceral fat.

So if you're a woman in your 30s or early 40s and you aren't already eating healthy and exercising regularly, you should get started now and work hard to maintain these healthy behaviors throughout the menopausal transition.

Kazlauskaite: It's also important to note that in both men and women, shifts in hormonal balance that cause belly fat to accumulate are also associated with decreased sex drive and decreased fertility.

Sometimes I remind men: The more inches around the waist, the less action below the waist. To have good erections you have to have perfect circulation, and since belly fat increases inflammation in the blood vessels and restricts blood flow, men’s erections may not be as good.

What also happens when a man is obese is that the brain starts suppressing the stimulation of testosterone, which is associated not only with erectile dysfunction but with decreased fertility.

In women, suppression of reproductive hormones might manifest as irregular menstruation, polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility. That's why doctors often advise women who are obese to lose weight before trying to get pregnant.

Q: You said that exercise is a magic pill for melting away belly fat, but what about actual pills — weight loss drugs or supplements?
Kazlauskaite: So far, there is not one single drug that is approved by the Federal Drug Administration for the reduction of belly fat. The fact is that supplements claiming "one trick solution" to belly fat are not strictly regulated, and a lot of the claims made in the ads are not backed up by research.




Rush University Medical