Dr Zoe Williams discusses visceral fat on This Morning
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Visceral fat, also known as belly fat, accumulates near important organs in the body, such as the liver and intestines. From this location visceral fat can launch an attack on vital bodily processes, raising your risk of life-threatening complications. Fortunately, visceral fat can be reduced by making healthy lifestyle decisions.
Diet plays a key role in reducing visceral fat and catechin-enriched green tea has been shown to help.
Catechins are natural antioxidants that are very abundant in tea.
A study published in the Journal of Functional Foods evaluates the effects of catechin-enriched green tea on Chinese adults with a high proportion of abdominal visceral fat.
For the study, 118 participants were randomly assigned to consume a beverage daily containing 609.3 mg catechins and 68.7 mg caffeine or a control beverage for 12 weeks.
Abdominal fat area, body weight and composition were measured at week zero, week eight and week 12.
One hundred and four subjects completed the trial. Average visceral fat area, body weight, and body fat were reduced significantly by catechin-enriched green tea treatment but these effects were not seen in the control group.
The decrease at week 12 in the visceral fat area in the catechin group was greater than that in the control group.
“Thus, consumption of the catechin-enriched green tea beverage for 12 weeks induced visceral fat loss in Chinese adults with a high proportion of abdominal visceral fat,” the study authors wrote.
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According to the researchers, green tea catechins contain various kinds of “functional elements” that have anti-obesity effects.
EGCG is the most abundant catechin in green tea and is believed to be the most active compound in catechin.
Good sources include chicken breast, tuna, mackerel, salmon, eggs, milk, red lentils, chickpeas, brown bread, nuts and soya.
Bupa also recommends the following:
- Make sure you eat a balanced diet. Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg each day, and include higher-fibre starchy foods in meals
- Have some reduced-fat dairy or soya drinks fortified in calcium
- Eat more beans, pulses, fish and eggs
- Eat small amounts of unsaturated oil
- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day
- Avoid adding salt or sugar to your meals.
To maximise the benefits of healthy eating, you should also engage in regular physical activity.
As the Mayo Clinic points out, you can tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other targeted abdominal exercises, but just doing these exercises won’t get rid of belly fat.
“Protein can be a helpful way to lose weight because it makes you feel fuller than carbs and fat do,” explains Bupa.
The health body continues: “If you include a lean source of protein, such as skinless white chicken, in your meals you may find that you’re not as hungry, and so eat less.”
Good sources include chicken breast, tuna, mackerel, salmon, eggs, milk, red lentils, chickpeas, brown bread, nuts and soya.
Bupa also recommends the following:
- Make sure you eat a balanced diet. Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg each day, and include higher-fibre starchy foods in meals
- Have some reduced-fat dairy or soya drinks fortified in calcium
- Eat more beans, pulses, fish and eggs
- Eat small amounts of unsaturated oil
- Drink six to eight glasses of water each day
- Avoid adding salt or sugar to your meals.
To maximise the benefits of healthy eating, you should also engage in regular physical activity.
As the Mayo Clinic points out, you can tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other targeted abdominal exercises, but just doing these exercises won’t get rid of belly fat.
“The starting point for bringing weight under control, in general, and combating abdominal fat, in particular, is regular moderate-intensity physical activity,” advises Harvard Health.
Moderate activity will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.
Harvard Health recommends doing at least 30 minutes per day (and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day) to control weight and lose belly fat.
It adds: “Strength training (exercising with weights) may also help fight abdominal fat.”
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