Introduction
If you’re looking to lose your visceral fat, you’ve come to the right place. Visceral fat is the type of fat that accumulates around your organs and can be dangerous to your health. It’s important to understand why you can’t lose your visceral fat and what you can do to get rid of it. In this article, we’ll discuss five reasons why you can’t lose your visceral fat and what you can do to get rid of it. We’ll also provide some tips on what to eat and what to avoid to help you reach your goals. So, let’s get started!
5 Reasons You Can’t Lose Your Visceral Fat
Visceral fat is the type of fat that accumulates around your organs and can be difficult to lose. It’s also the most dangerous type of fat, as it increases your risk of developing serious health conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Here are five reasons why you may be struggling to lose your visceral fat.
1. You’re Not Eating Enough Protein
Protein is essential for weight loss, as it helps to keep you feeling full and satisfied. It also helps to build muscle, which is important for burning fat. Aim to get at least 20-30 grams of protein with each meal.
2. You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep
Sleep is essential for weight loss, as it helps to regulate your hormones and metabolism. Aim to get at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night.
3. You’re Not Doing Enough Exercise
Exercise is essential for burning fat, as it helps to boost your metabolism and burn calories. Aim to get at least 30 minutes of exercise each day, such as walking, running, cycling, or swimming.
4. You’re Eating Too Many Processed Foods
Processed foods are high in calories and low in nutrients, which can make it difficult to lose weight. Aim to eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.
5. You’re Not Drinking Enough Water
Water is essential for weight loss, as it helps to keep you hydrated and flush out toxins. Aim to drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.
Visceral fat—also known as belly fat, the kind of fat that lurks under the abdominal muscles and around crucial organs like the liver and pancreas—is dangerous. Dr. Mark Hyman, a functional medicine physician with the Cleveland Clinic, puts it in stark terms: “If you have belly fat, it is a risk factor for every single age-related disease, period. Forget about smoking, this is the killer.” Among other destructive effects, visceral fat stokes bodywide inflammation and releases hormones and toxins into crucial organs. But if you’ve ever tried to reduce stubborn abdominal fat, you might have found yourself frustrated. In a recent episode of his podcast The Doctor’s Farmacy, Hyman detailed five reasons why. Read on to find out more—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Hyman pinpoints liquid calories as one of the biggest contributors to visceral fat. “Soda, juices, even nut milks, which you think are healthy, can be spiking your sugar—sweetened coffee, sweetened teas, energy drinks,” he said. “We are living in a sea of liquid sugar, and it’s really different than regular sugar.”
Liquid sugar seems to accelerate the development of belly fat “by being quickly absorbed, spiking blood sugar, spiking insulin,” he said. “Liquid sugar calories are the single biggest correlate with obesity in America … If you can do a single thing to dramatically improve your health, get rid of liquid sugar calories.”
Nearly as bad as liquid sugar: The refined carbs in flour, which are highly processed and quickly absorbed by the body. “It turns out that flour is worse than table sugar when it comes to raising your blood sugar,” said Hyman. “When you raise your blood sugar, you raise insulin. You raise insulin, you sweep all the fuel out of your bloodstream and throw it into your belly-fat cells.”
“It’s like insulin basically opens the gates—all the fuel, fat, sugar, carbs, everything goes flooding into your fat cells. And then the gate closes like a one-way turnstile in the subway.”
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“The challenge with our modern diet is the absolute excess of calories, the absolute excess of sugar and starch in our diet, and the endless ability to overeat,” said Hyman. “We have to really take a good, serious look at the way our bodies are adapted—which is to store as much fat as possible, as quickly as possible—when we have an excess of calories.”
“We have to actually stop this process of overeating and eating the wrong foods,” he added. “That’s driving this belly fat … it is the single biggest thing that’s driving disease.”
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“You don’t want to eat before bed, three hours at least,” said Hyman. “When you’re sleeping, your body’s in repair storage mode. So all these hormones change from day to night, and the hormones at night are storage hormones. So you’re going to store all that food as belly fat.” Hyman eats dinner at 5 or 6pm before going to bed at 9 or 10pm, allowing himself three hours to digest—without snacking.
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“I never put people on a calorie-restricted diet, never,” said Hyman. “I never say, ‘Count your calories, cut your calories. Don’t eat too many calories.’ I don’t even say the word ‘calories,’ it’s just so irrelevant. And I’ve had people lose hundreds of pounds. It works because when you use science, not willpower, it’s easy. People aren’t hungry, they feel nourished, they feel satisfied, they don’t feel deprived, it’s sustainable.”
To lose belly fat and maintain a healthy weight, Hyman, like many experts, recommends a diet focused on whole foods, which are anti-inflammatory, phytonutrient-rich and high in fiber and good fats like avocado and olive oil.
And to ensure your health don’t miss these 101 Health Habits You Didn’t Know Were Deadly.