Hi everyone,
I wanted to take a minute to comment on my perspective on a Flat Belly Plan prior to the airing of Dr. Oz’s show on this topic.
Importantly, where each of us deposits our fat stores is very much gene-dependent & is at least in part controlled by our hormone levels (i.e. men tend to deposit in the beer belly vs. women in the hips).
The concept of targeting fat loss to a specific is a challenging one. Just ask anyone who’s tried to accomplish this feat before!
However, there is evidence that including certain foods into your nutrition plan will help to clear out some of the omental (around the organ) fat preferentially, possibly by activating fat clearing enzymes in the liver that act to remove some of the fat. This is very beneficial because of this omental fat is the one that increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancers (to name a few).
Obviously, there are different theories out there, but here’s my perspective on the evidence at this time.
Dietitian Dan T’s Flat-Belly Plan
1. Initiate general fat loss in your body.
- Create a 20-30% calorie deficit, more than this can actually stop fat loss – see my video – on this topic
- Increase in intense exercise daily (both cardio & resistance based over the week) – see Trainer C video channel – Chizle Fitness YouTube Channel
2. Cut out most if not all pro-inflammatory foods
- Bagels
- Breads, rolls, baked goods
- Candy, Cake, Cookies, Crackers
- Cereals (except old fashioned oatmeal)
- Cornstarch
- Corn bread & muffins
- Corn syrup
- Croissants, Doughnuts
- Egg rolls
- Fast food
- French Fries
- Fruit juices
- Fried foods
- Flour
- Granola
- Hard cheese (except for feta and grating cheeses, such as Romano and Parmesan)
- Honey
- Hot dogs
- Ice cream, frozen yogurt
- Jams, preserves
- Margarine
- Molasses
- Muffins
- Noodles
- Pancakes, Pastry
- Pie, Waffles
- Pita bread
- Pizza
- Pasta
- Popcorn
- Potatoes
- Pudding
- Relish
- Rice
- Sherbet
- Shortening
- Snack foods (i.e. potato chips, pretzels, corn chips, rice cake, etc.)
- Soda, Sugar
- Tacos, Tortillas
3. Consume anti-inflammatory foods
- Kelp
- Tumeric
- Wild caught salmon
- Shitake mushrooms
- Green Tea
- Papaya
- Blueberry
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Broccoli
- Sweet Potato
The optimal targets for fat intake are as follows:
A) Trans fats – None – check the label and be sure it states truly zero. Any increases risk of heart disease, so avoid.
4. Cope Effectively with Stress.
We’re starting to better understand that emotional stress is intimately connected to our physiological (& psychological) health.
There is mounting evidence that when under stress, the cells of the immune system are not able to respond to hormonal control & therefore inflammatory levels are reached that promote disease.
Therefore, being able to not allow stress to reach a level that causes this effect is key to preventing risk of inflammatory-induced diseases.
Intense exercise, Yoga, Meditation, Martial arts incorporating focus & zen philosophy, support groups & therapy have all been shown to be great stress management tools.
Do these now. You can start by trying out some free online exercise session with Trainer C over at Chizle Fitness .
5. Get Adequate Sleep.
More and more studies have show
n lately that sleep is inversely associated with inflammation. For example, people who slept 6 hours or less per night, has higher levels of inflammatory markers fibrinogen, IL-6 and C-reactive protein.
It’s critical to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night as this has been associated with lower inflammation & lower disease risk in general. Furthermore, this sleep should be uninterrupted as much as possible. Try to sleep in absolute dark, have a wind down ritual that doesn’t involve a computer, sleep in a cool room & wake up as gently as possible.
Remember that it’s a holistic approach is needed here. If any of these components are off, then your inflammation will likely be higher & your belly fat will be “resistant” to being used.
Go and give your best! Try it for 3 months & see what these lifestyle changes can do for you!
Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to start learning the truth about nutrition at home for free!
Dietitian Dan T’s Chizle Fuel Channel
Until next time!
Dietitian Dan T
http://theconsciouslife.com/top-10-anti-inflammatory-foods.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402162546.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101114161939.htm