Belly fat is one of the biggest targets for those striving to lose weight. It can be one of the most pernicious fat store areas of the body to break down. What is now known about abdominal fat may surprise you. It is certain that too much abdominal fat can be problematic to your health.
Before going into how to lose belly fat, let’s talk about some of the functions of abdominal fat. Much of the fat in the abdomen is called ‘Adipose Tissue’. Adipose tissue has been identified as having a much greater function than simply accumulating at your mid-section. Adipose fat tissue is actually an endocrine organ that produces and secretes critical hormones that have a long list of critical functions.
Leptin: The Master Hormone Produced from Adipose Fat
Leptin is one of the master regulatory hormones of metabolism. It is secreted by the adipose fat tissue, mostly in the abdomen. Leptin is the key hormone that regulates appetite as it tells your brain when to stop eating. Leptin has relationships with numerous hormones including insulin, glucagon, adrenaline, melatonin and also has relationships with the autonomic nervous system and immune systems. Leptin modulates the immune response to heart disease. There is a direct and powerful correlation between elevated leptin levels and the development of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and osteoporosis.
Burning Belly Fat Means Lowering Leptin
Huge problems take place when leptin levels get too high. Cascades of various hormone imbalances take place, weight gain ensues and appetite becomes erratic and unstable. Controlling leptin levels is the most important factor for burning excess belly fat. One of most important factors for controlling leptin is lowering insulin!
Insulin is the body’s only hormone that lowers blood sugar, and it does so by bringing glucose (blood sugar) into your cells so metabolism can take place. Insulin is produced in response to carbohydrate metabolism. So one of the key ways to burn body fat, lower leptin and insulin is to cut back on your intake of sugars, and high carbohydrate-containing foods.
In fact, excess abdominal fat is primarily caused by the over consumption of sugars and carbohydrates. its important to understand that excess insulin production stores belly fat. Whatever carbohydrates don’t get immediately used gets stored as fat.
3 Keys to Lowering ‘Belly Fat’
- Eat right for Your Type of Metabolism. Your Metabolic Type is the dominant factor that will determine the most essential foods for your unique biochemistry. Unlike every other school of nutrition, Metabolic Type Nutrition addresses that the dominant factor for identifying how food and nutrients behave in your body is your type of metabolism. A non-Metabolic Type diet is a major stressor and cause for excess belly fat.
- Reduce Your Intake of High Carbohydrate Foods such as: Bread, pasta, grains, flour, sugar, coffee. As stated earlier, these foods will cause excess insulin production which in turn causes belly fat to accumulate. Eating adequate protein is essential because protein counters insulin release, by triggering the release of glucagon. However, not all protein is the same. Depending on your Metabolic Type, the type of protein your body needs is different than for someone else.
- Intense Cardiovascular Exercise burns excess belly fat and lowers leptin and insulin. Your cardio workout doesn’t necessarily need to be long in duration. Short, high intensity interval training can be very powerful on breaking down fat stores, and this can be done in as little as 20-30 minutes! Interval training requires that you push your anaerobic threshold 6-8 times for very short durations, usually 30 seconds.
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