Belly fat is a fat tissues build-up around your belly. It is a common type of fat which can be reduced with a healthy diet and exercises. But for some people with a stressful lifestyle, unhealthy eating, inactivity, and frequent hormonal imbalance can find belly fat loss regime difficult.
You might be making smart choices for belly fat loss, but the scale is not moving as desire because your diet may have some complicated foods which making your body water retention, high-calorie consumption and bloating. You will require more eating of veggies, nuts, seeds, fruits, whole grain, protein and fiber which helps to preserve your stomach feel full for longer time.
Belly Fat Facts
Table of Contents
Belly fat is the most common health issue which everyone wants to prevent. The fat build around belly can happen due to many causes such as aging, excess drinking habit, and post pregnancy. But no matter how it happens, no one wants to have a bulging belly.
Causes
Belly fat begins storing when you consume more and have an idle lifestyle. If your everyday life doesn’t include walking, stairs taking and workout then you will become lazier. Eating extra calories than you can burn is a major cause of building fat.
Aging is also one the reasons for gaining belly fat. As your age progress, your regular metabolism becomes inactive and whole-body fat to start to increase. Women are more likely to get belly fat than men as they begin aging. During menopause, body fat pattern gets change which leads to fat collection around the abdomen.
Other causes include hereditary factor. It can be in your genes to have more belly fat during your middle age than your other body parts. It may have passed through your family, or stress and hormonal fluctuations can be the risk factor to increase fat around your belly.
Measure your belly fat
You can find out if you are carrying extra belly fat or not by measure circumference of your waist. Here is the ideal measurement which means you may develop the risk of diseases.
- Women with more than 35 inches waist measurement
- Men with 40 inches of waist measurement
Why worry about belly fat?
If you build up more fat around your belly, then it may lead to a risky health problem. The belly fat may not directly affect your health, but it is a slow-growing risk factor for serious health problems such as:
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Gallbladder problems
- Breast cancer
- High blood pressure
Here are the best dietary foods to remove belly fats.
Avacado
Avocado is an excellent dietary food for belly fat loss. Replace your saturated fats with plant-based unsaturated fats with sufficient portion size. Avocado is a dense nutrient fruit. It is the best source of natural fats including polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fats.
A fifty gram of avocado contains 80 calories and 20 minerals and vitamins. The healthy fat content helps to prevent stomach bloating and help the body to absorb carotenoids which are a cancer-fighting synthesis available in avocado and other veggies like carrot, tomatoes, spinach, and squash.
One avocado contributes 322 calories, and more than half part of calories hold unsaturated fatty-acid describe as oleic acid. It is a superb source of good fat which helps in unnecessary fat loss.
Avocado has a delicious creamy pulp which comprises less than 2 grams of sugar as compared to other fruits. It helps regulate the normal blood sugar levels.
Make sure to check the milkshakes because stall vendors often use added sugar which works against your fat loss goal. You can increase avocado taste with salt, honey or olive oil without losing health benefits.
Regular consumption of avocado also supports heart health in a healthy way. According to the American-Heart-Association study, avocado helps to reduce the bad cholesterol in the levels of blood in obese and overweight people. A strong cardiovascular system helps to support fat loss plan.
Banana
The fruit banana found everywhere in all seasons. It is the best dietary food which provides loads of nutrition such as fiber, potassium, and mineral. It is easy to eat fruit with the best taste.
Banana helps to flush out the toxins from your body and boost metabolism. Apart from these qualities banana helps to reduce the belly fat.
Banana is one of some fruits which helps to lose belly fat. As it contains fructose, glucose, and sucrose, helps to provide good energy in your body. Eating banana can keep you full stomach for a longer time and prevent from extra calories consumed. Reduced calorie intake means less belly fat.
You can add a banana smoothie to your diet which helps to prevent water retention in your body and aid in fat reduction. A banana smoothie is an excellent idea to include in belly fat loss plan with other ingredients to have a tasty smoothie.
Making banana smoothie is very simple.
- One orange
- One banana
- Ginger 1/4 tablespoon
- Two tablespoon flax seeds
- Yogurt
- Whey powder
- One teaspoon coconut oil
Blend all ingredients and drink when you have an empty stomach. You can also drink lukewarm one glass water in the morning and eat the banana smoothie. To get the desired result, consume it daily.
You can combine other foods with banana such as raspberries, cranberries, ginger, and honey.
Green Tea
Green tea is a well know health drink which aids fat burning. Its plenty of nutritional value helps to boost metabolism to prevent unnecessary fat build-up.
Green tea contains plenty of antioxidants and many substances which are good for health. Green tea has caffeine which helps to stimulate the fat burning mechanism and boost workout performance. It also has some active compounds that prevent hormonal imbalance.
Green tea has an essential ingredient describe as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which make your fat loss goal easy. The epigallocatechin gallate is a flavonoid – a powerful antioxidant to turn toxic free radicals in to harmless. Flavonoids work as an anti-inflammatory guard and enhance the immune system. Therefore, green tea contains plenty of flavonoids and the best to use as a dietary food.
Also, green tea contains special quality which increases heat production in your body and the impact of certain enzymes to promote metabolism. Once your body produces normal heat than it will help to burn the belly fat.
How much green tea you can drink?
Make sure you are healthy enough to add green tea to your diet. You can have 300 ml of green tea every day to lose belly fat. To see the positive results, spread the green tea consuming timings throughout the day.
Get fresh or dried pure green tea leaves which should not contain added substances.
You can have green tea after your meal. Consult your doctor if you have any health disease or allergy.
Yogurt
Yogurt is another dietary food which you can replace with less healthy foods. There is some research which claims yogurt support weight loss and belly fat loss. But some other research tells the only yogurt cannot benefit for fat loss.
Well, you need to make a proper plan of belly fat loss when adding yogurt to your diet. Yogurt provides a considerable amount of calcium, protein, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin B-12, zinc, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin.
The best way to decrease your belly fat is to choose fatless plain yogurt. Per cup fatless yogurt contain 137 calories, whereas whole-milk yogurt of the same quantity contains 149 calories.
Avoid eating yogurt with flavors which include added sugar, and it may interrupt in fat loss plan. If you prefer fat less Greek yogurt, then it also contains the equal number of calories like regular non-fat yogurt, but whole Greek yogurt holds three times more fat of normal yogurt. It also includes 1/3 amount calcium in normal yogurt which means you need to consume more yogurt for receiving potential fat loss benefits.
Berries
There are different berries which are helpful to your overall health, but blueberries are the best for belly fat loss. It contains a sufficient number of antioxidants and helps to fight with fat.
The nutrient content of blueberries helps to promote metabolism and prepare your body to burn calories efficiently. Blueberries are a low glycaemic index, and it satisfies your sweet craving without consuming extra sugar. According to studies, people who eat everyday blueberries have better belly fat loss.
A half cup of blueberries is equal to one serving size. Blueberries are low in calories, eating double portion also won’t break your diet. Every cup of blueberries contains 80 calories, and it can provide 16% of daily calories intake based on the 2000 calorie diet. Other berries also low-calorie friendly. One cup of sliced strawberries provides 50 calories, and the same number of raspberries and blackberries provide 60 calories.
Blueberries are the best type of healthy snack choice while you are on belly fat loss plan. Make sure to choose snacks which have only 100 calories to keep your weight and fat under control. You can have blueberries with a low-fat dairy product such as cheese or yogurt.
Apple
Don’t skip the apple as it also contributes to healthy fat burning. Apple supports both weight and fat loss due to its low calories and high fiber quality. You can eat an apple as a fresh snack which reduces your frequent food cravings. It also provides you essential vitamin C, B, mineral, and antioxidants which provide energy to your body.
Grapefruit
According to may fitness experts, consuming grapefruit every day increase the fat loss. As grapefruit contain high water, it helps to flush out the toxins from the body. The daily consumption of grapefruit can keep you hydrated for a longer time. Additionally, it has fat burning enzymes which support weight loss. This fruit requires more energy to digest. Therefore, while digestion it burns more calories.
Lemon
Lemon is the best dietary food for reducing belly fats. You can have lemon water every day to see the best result. Lemon water helps to purify the liver which is essential for fat metabolism and preventing fat build-up around the belly.
Mix a half lemon juice in two cup glasses of water and drink it. To get effective benefits of lemon water, you need to drink it before eating anything in the morning.
Lemon is one of the low calories dietary food. Replacing high-calorie food with lemon water is more beneficial for belly fat loss. Instead of soda and sweet juice, you can have lemon water to cut the calories and help your body to work on fat loss.
Lemon water contains more water which helps to flush out the waste from cells and maintain your body temperature. It is the best dietary food to stay hydrated for a long time.
According to research, good hydration helps to break down the fats accumulation and boost fat loss. Hydration also decreases water retention and prevent puffiness, bloating and weight gain.
Whole Grain
Whole grain is a dietary food for reducing your belly fat. Belly fat linked with chronic inflammation lower levels in the blood vessels and result in stroke and heart attacks. You should choose whole grain and avoid refined grain to get effective benefits.
There are different types of whole grain to reduce belly fat such as
Quinoa
It is high fiber food which makes your stomach feel full and reduce your calorie intake. The content of protein in quinoa helps to promote your metabolism and maintain blood sugar levels by reducing your food craving.
Quinoa also contains good fats and life-supporting nutrients such as iron, B3 vitamins, calcium, magnesium. It is also gluten-free to start your day with quinoa flakes.
Oats/oatmeal
Oatmeal is a kind of whole grain, and it has complex carbohydrates and healthy dietary fiber. This fiber content in oats helps the body to digest properly. Oats provide soluble fiber which is good for managing blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
The fiber ability in oats provide satiety after eating and support belly fat loss. Its nutrients content such as phosphorous, zinc, calcium, folate, magnesium and potassium make it a super dietary food.
Whole-grain barley
Barley is one of the super grain dietary food for losing belly fat. It decreases the calories and also has a low glycemic index. Therefore, it takes more time for getting digested and manages insulin and blood glucose levels.
Its nutrient values such as vitamin B1, B3, iron, selenium, zinc, magnesium, copper, and phosphorus help to maintain your health.
Brown rice
Brown rice includes a high amount of dietary fiber which lessens frequent food eating and controls a healthy weight. It helps to support elevated blood sugar levels due to its low glycemic index.
It also gives you feeling of a full stomach for a prolonged time and prevent unnecessary snacks. Its insoluble fiber content helps gut health for good digest and dropping waste. Add brown rice in your diet to diminish belly fat.
Nuts
Nuts are essential for all kinds of diet and necessary in belly fat loss diet. You can have nuts including pine nuts, walnuts, pistachios and almonds which are the best source of healthy fats and proteins. These nuts help to maintain your satiety levels and boost food tasting ability. It also prevents you from having trans-fat junk foods. Junk foods cause the quick build-up of fat around the belly.
A study of 2015 from American-Heart-Association said that eating nuts as snack support belly fat loss.
Broccoli
Broccoli is the best vegetable for fat burning dietary foods. It helps to reduce belly fat as well as the risk of obesity and cancer. It provides various benefit for a healthy lifestyle and prevents type 2 diabetes. The content of phytonutrients in broccoli helps to remove the toxins and decrease inflammation. It is an excellent food for improving immunity and boosting metabolic rate. You can add broccoli in salad, soups, or eat as grilled or blanched to have a flat belly.
Chilies
Green chili, red chili is best dietary food for getting vitamin C. The content of capsaicin boost metabolism and burn belly fat. Adding chilies in your diet support to burn unnecessary fat by generating heat in the body. You can sprinkle cayenne flakes over salads or add green chilies in omelet or fritters to enjoy to the tasty food and burn belly fat.
Eggs
Everyone has a misconception that eating eggs make you fat. Yes, if you eat more eggs with an inactive lifestyle and other unhealthy food, it can cause you to gain weight, but adding an egg to balance your diet provide you whole proteins which burn excess belly fat.
If you do regular exercise, stay active all day and have sound sleep, then eggs can help to reduce all body fats including your belly.
There are some beliefs that eggs cause to raise bad cholesterol, but scientist discovered that eggs contain dietary cholesterol which doesn’t affect blood cholesterol levels.
If you still worry, then I tell you what to do. You don’t need to eat the only egg, but you need to add other dietary food with egg which balances your diet. You should not avoid having an egg, which may prevent you from getting essential vitamins and minerals. Add boiled eggs in your breakfast to increase the benefits and support belly fat loss.
Soup
According to the vegiterranean diet author – Julieanna Hever, adding soup in the diet helps to prevent the more calories consumption which limits the fat build-up around the belly region. You can enjoy having chicken soup, vegetable soup, mushroom soup, lentil chili soup. Make the soup at your home to avoid added unnecessary ingredients.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is one of the dietary foods for losing belly fats. Coconut contains healthy fats that help to lower the bad cholesterol and support digestion. Adding coconut oil promote your overall immune system by reducing your short hunger. You need to choose edible form coconut oil cooking.
According to studies, you can have two tablespoons of coconut oil for dropping belly fat. You can get 18 grams of medium-chain-triglycerides from two tablespoon coconut oil which is in the range of 15 to 30 grams and shows growth of metabolic rate.
Legumes and beans
Eat legumes and beans to get a good amount of fiber, protein, vitamin, and minerals. Regular consumption of legumes helps to reduce hunger pangs and prevent more eating. You can mix three different legumes to get different micronutrients.
The content of soluble fiber in legumes and beans is the best source of good carbohydrates which support belly fat loss. It also aids in blood sugar and blood pressure regulating.
Fish
Maybe you don’t eat fish regularly but adding fish to your diet helps to provide omega-3 fatty acid and essential proteins. It helps to increase metabolic rate and reduce inflammation. It limits the weight gain induced by inflammation or stress.
Fish also improve health and manage insulin sensitivity. According to the research team from Japan, fish oil helps to burn belly fat efficiently in obese and overweight people.
Onion
Onion belongs to allium vegetable family. Allium herbs and vegetables are well known for flavoring food and medicinal purposes.
Do you know it is one of the powerful vegetables to aid in weight and fat loss? As onions are soluble fiber, it generates strong prebiotic food. It keeps gut healthy and manages belly fat.
According to recent studies, onion work effectively for fat loss particularly for belly fat and prevent obesity. You can add onion in salad, or any dish to get its benefits.
Eating onion can help to reduce the risk of chronic disease such as
- Colon cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Stomach and Esophageal cancer
- Enhance Sleep and mood
- Maintain Skin and hair
Tomatoes
Almost everyone uses tomatoes for eating, it can also help in weight loss and belly fat loss. You can add raw tomatoes in belly fat loss diet plan. Tomatoes are the best vegetable to lower the inflammation and water retention. Apart from that, tomatoes contain low calories which boost metabolism and keep your fat burning on track.
Farro
Farro is a less known superfood. It is a whole grain which is unprocessed and contains original nutrients. Its fiber content takes time to digest and absorb which lower the insulin release by the liver. If your body produces sufficient insulin, then there will be less fat around your belly
Chia seeds
Chia seeds are tiny edible seeds belongs to the mint family. These seeds are ten times more powerful than their size. They work strongly to convert gel-like substance to keep you feel full stomach and prevent excess calorie consumption.
Dark chocolate
You may wonder how chocolate is helpful but yes eating dark chocolate every day can reduce belly fat. According to a research study of August 2012 discovered that dark chocolate can support belly fat reduction. You need to make sure that the dark chocolate you eat needs to have 70% of cacao in it.
However, to have a flat belly try to avoid oily foods and fast food which are fast ways to build unnecessary fat. Apart from that do regular exercise which focuses on belly regions and engages the belly muscles to make the blood circulation easy.