Belly fat, muffin top, beer belly, spare tire – numerous names, but they all mean the same thing. With the summer approaching, you might try to quickly reduce it, but, you should care more whether your belly fat is a sign that your health is at risk.
Abdominal fat is located around the midriff, and it can be underneath the skin, called subcutaneous fat, or around the pancreas, liver, intestines and other vital organs called visceral fat. The latter can lead to adverse health effects.
Visceral fat is considered to have higher turnover and be more metabolically active than subcutaneous fat. So when a person gains weight, it stores it right there first, and when one loses weight, s/he loses again from there first.
Luckily, despite being more dangerous to a person’ health, visceral fat is easier to shift than the other type of fat, subcutaneous fat. There are many fitness and health websites that offer numerous tricks to quickly reduce belly fat, but how reliable are they?
For that purpose, a research was conducted on 35 volunteers. They were separated into 4 groups, which were led by 2 experts in diet and exercise. All participants had abdominal fat, which put them at risk of heart disease and type 2 Diabetes. The metabolic medicine professor from the University of Oxford, Fredrik Karpe, and University of Bath’s Prof Dylan Thompson tried 2 different methods according to their field of expertise with the 4 groups.
Both professors took the required health parameters before the beginning of the experiment. One of the most important parameters was dual X-ray absorptiometry scan, DEXA scan, to get a detailed image of the fat amount that every participant had, as well as its location. Other measurements they took were blood glucose, resting heart rate, weight, blood lipids, waistline, and blood pressure.
Both professors took on 2 groups for their separate analysis. Prof Thompson’s method involved 2 types of exercises, and the method of Prof Karpe involved 2 dietary interventions.
The first group of Prof Thompson carried monitors to check their daily activity while they needed to eat as usual. They were given simple lifestyle changes to increase their activity and daily step count. The participants from the second group of the same professor were asked to do stomach crunches for belly fat recommended by many health websites. Each participant was doing 6 exercises 3 times each, every other day in a period of 6 weeks.
Stomach crunches or sit-ups are done by lying on the back, with bent knees and flat feet on the ground, hip-width apart. Your hands should be placed across your chest, on your thighs, or behind your head. Then, you should slowly fold your torso towards your knees, until you raise your shoulders at a 3-inch distance from the floor. Remain in that position for several seconds, and slowly lower down.
Prof Karpe monitored the participants from the 3rd group who were asked to follow another popular internet suggestion for reducing belly fat- drinking up to 1 liter (3 glasses) of milk a day. One research suggested that fat excretion might be promoted by dairy consumption. Fat eliminates through the feces instead of being absorbed.
The last group was the diet group who didn’t have to change the type of food they usually eat. Their only task was to reduce the size of their portions, by measuring foods using their hands and fingers. Also, they needed to stay away from snacks between meals. Researchers wanted to make this as simple as possible, so they didn’t give participants different meal plans from the rest of their families.
These participants from this group, the 4th one, were supported by a dietician who offered coping strategies to those who experienced hunger pangs. Each participant had a separate session with the dietitian before the beginning of the experiment, but she continued to support them during the whole experiment via phone calls.
When the 6-week experiments ended, all participants were once again tested on their blood cholesterol, blood pressure, waistline, and blood glucose. The results were interesting and quite revealing.
Participants from the first exercise group didn’t succeed to burn any fat, but they managed to improve their health markers with reduction in their blood pressure. One participant even succeeded to lower the levels of blood glucose from being in the range of diabetics to normal.
The participants from the second group who were asked to do stomach crunches (sit-ups) neither lost weight nor improved their health parameters. However, they managed to lose incredible 0,8 inches (2 cm) from their waistline. According to Prof Thompson, this was a result of an improved strength of the core and the abdomen muscles were holding the fat better. In a way like a muscle shapewear. Nevertheless, a good core is useful for good posture, and prevention of lower back pain.
When it comes to the groups of Prof Karpe, those who needed to drink milk had no improved health or weight. But what’s interesting is that although they consumed 400 calories a day more than usual, they still didn’t gain fat or weight. Prof Karpe explains that this might be because the milk made them feel full for a longer period.
The definite winners were the participants from the last group. The diet group succeeded to lose collective 77 lb (35 kg), or an average of 8.2 lb (3.7 kg) each in the course of 6 weeks. The average waistline of these participants was decreased by 2 inches (5 cm).
The results from the DEXA scan showed that they had 5 percent less body fat and an incredible 14 percent drop of the hazardous visceral fat within the abdomen. They lost both, abdominal fat and body fat, at the same time improving their health parameters. However, one thing that’s not so positive is that they lost some muscle tone from their legs.
Therefore, the overall conclusion is that if you want to get rid of your belly fat in an effective and most importantly in a healthy way, you should combine proper diet and exercise. Leave the quick online belly-fat craze where you’ve found them.
Via BBC
