You may be eating weight gain foods that can cause visceral fat in particular. Visceral fat is associated with some cancers, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more. It’s deadly and everyone is at risk, but it can often be prevented by making lifestyle choices and avoiding certain essential foods.
“Everybody has some amount of visceral fat.” Dr. William Leean upcoming bestselling author Eat to Beat Your Diet: Burn Fat, Restore Your Metabolism and Live Longer,teach. “Fat typically makes up about 10% of the normal healthy fat that everyone carries. Fat plays many roles in the body. It’s a fuel tank for getting energy from food, and it’s also a space heater that burns to generate heat.So fat in itself, including visceral fat, isn’t bad. You will have problems.”
“There are some rare genetic conditions that cause excess fat storage, but excess visceral fat mostly results from excess energy stored in the body,” says Dr. Lee. (caloric overload) from lack of exercise (not enough calories burned) to disruption of the gut microbiome (which helps control metabolism, including body fat storage). ”
Diet plays an important role in the accumulation of visceral fat. We spoke with the experts who explain 11 foods that can cause visceral fat and why, and ranked them from worst to absolutely worst. Plus, don’t miss the five best habits to lose belly fat—and actually keep it off, says Science.
Megan Mesher Cox, DOMost sweet breakfast cereals are made with refined grains and added sugars, according to doctors board-certified in internal medicine, lifestyle medicine, and bariatrics at Dignity Health St. John’s Hospital. It also contains very little dietary fiber as it is removed through processing.
Think cereal with dried fruit tastes better? Think again. “Even seemingly healthy ingredients like raisins and cranberries can have large amounts of sugar added before being combined with the refined grain portion of the cereal,” she adds.
“Eating this high-glycemic food in the morning can do a ‘double-hit’ to your health. First, it adds empty calories with little nutritional value, but second, your insulin levels.” About two hours after eating, you feel a lack of energy. A person’s blood sugar (and insulin) levels lead to increased caloric intake and decreased exercise levels. It’s the perfect recipe for visceral adipogenesis,” explains Dr. Cox.
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According to Dr. Cox,”[Palm oil is] Saturated fats are very high, especially when comparing individuals consuming saturated and polyunsaturated fats, and saturated fats, especially when comparing individuals consuming saturated and polyunsaturated fats. Participants who ate muffins made with palm oil, which is very high in fat and high in saturated fat, gained more fat overall, especially in the liver and abdomen. compared to those who ate muffins made with fat.
“These findings are especially true when you’re consuming more calories than your body needs, which is common in American diets,” Dr. Cox adds.
Dr. Tomi MitchellBoard Certified Family Physician with Holistic Wellness Strategies says: In addition, these beverages tend to be high in calories, and together they add up to visceral fat, a type of internal fat that is stored around organs. can cause It affects several harmful medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Therefore, although they are sometimes indulged, frozen coffee drinks should not be a daily habit.
Dr. Cox said: Sometimes more calories than a typical diet. Extra calories are also converted into stored fat.
Opt for green, black or herbal teas instead. “These teas have health benefits due to their high levels of antioxidants (and they have no sugar, saturated fat, or even calories),” he adds Dr. Cox.
Dr. Cox explains: “This combination of refined sugars and empty calories (an empty calorie is one that contributes little or no nutritional value) found in cookies and pastries leads to insulin resistance and excess weight, especially visceral fat. A major cause of fat accumulation is excessive calorie intake, and these foods are usually high in calories, high in refined grains, sometimes saturated fat, and have little dietary fiber to help you feel full.
Visceral fat isn’t the only negative effect of eating these sweets.according to Dr. Dana Ellis Hannes, MPH, RD, Senior Dietician, UCLA Medical Center, Assistant Professor, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Author, Cambridge University Press survival recipe“Pastry and cookies contain high amounts of saturated fat (from butter) or trans fat from margarine or other solid, storage-stable fats, which are known to raise cholesterol (and LDL-cholesterol) levels.” It is often the case that
Dr. Stacey J. Stephensonbest-selling author Vibrant: A Breakthrough Program to Energize, Stay Healthy, and Shine, A prominent leader in functional medicine states, “Processed meats such as bacon, sausages, ham and deli meats, red meats such as beef, and especially high-fat cuts such as ribeye have been associated with visceral fat in multiple studies. A 2020 study found that higher meat intake was associated with increased visceral fat, especially in women over the age of 45. A better option is protein sources with healthier fats, such as seafood. and vegetable protein sources such as legumes.
According to Dr. Cox, “Cheeseburgers have a combination of foods that cause the formation of visceral fat. High calories from red meat and cheese, saturated fat, and inflammatory factors cause more visceral fat to be produced.” , is often paired with refined white bread, and adding mayonnaise or other spreads adds more unhealthy fats to the combination.
According to Dr. Stevenson, “refined sugars and refined fats are recipes for visceral fat, and donuts contain both without supplementing their nutritional value, such as fiber and antioxidants. A 2020 study.” showed that additional sugar intake was associated with visceral fat packing around the heart. Fat builds up around the liver, and higher sugar intake was shown to increase visceral fat in the abdomen. Donuts tick all these boxes. Oatmeal for breakfast instead?”
“The next culprit in creating visceral fat is french fries, whether in the form of potato chips or french fries,” Dr. Stevenson says. Deep-frying them adds trans fats, commonly used in deep-frying, and carcinogenic acrylamides, which form when you eat carbohydrate-rich foods, like visceral fat. In a large twin study examining dietary patterns associated with obesity, researchers found that fried foods and fast foods were highly correlated with visceral fat.French fries fall into both categories. .”
Dr. Mitchell explains: It is associated with many chronic health conditions, such as heart problems and type II diabetes. Stick to light drinks with low alcohol content to ensure your drinking habits are healthy and safe. and consider limiting your daily intake. Drink flavored seltzer water or fresh fruit juice when asked for a drink at a social event. ”
Dr. Stevenson said: “If he had to pick just one worst ‘food’ to cause excess visceral fat, it would be soda. The regular variety sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup and the diet sweetened with artificial sweeteners. both of a kind.”
“Studies have shown a link between sugary drinks (the main source of sugar in the U.S. diet) and visceral abdominal fat, as well as an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. One study found: We investigated how habitual intake of soda affects fat deposition in healthy adults and found that sugar-sweetened drinks were positively associated with increased deposition of visceral fat in the abdomen. ,” says Dr. Stevenson.
Diet sodas are also associated with belly fat, so don’t just focus on sugar-sweetened sodas. A 2021 study showed that adults over the age of 65 who drank more diet soda had increased abdominal obesity, an association the study called a “surprising dose response.” This means that the more diet sodas that study participants drank, the greater the abdominal obesity.”Saving soda calories and increasing overall caloric intake.” ”
In conclusion, “It may be best for your health to give up drinks with added sugar or artificial sweeteners,” argues Dr. Stevenson.
