- 6/11/2025
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LearningTranscript
00:00hi i'm lisa registered dietitian with healthline and today we're going to talk about anything that
00:05you might be able to do to lose belly fat now before we get started i want you to know there's
00:10no magical food you can eat that will shrink your stomach but before you click away there is some
00:16research around certain habits or types of foods to incorporate and activities that you can do
00:21that may help you lose weight or belly fat around your middle section so today we're going to talk
00:26about what those research back tips are and things you can do that might help you lose belly fat
00:39when we're talking about belly fat what we're actually talking about are two different types
00:43of fat there's the subcutaneous layer of fat which is found all over your body and that's right under
00:49your skin there's also some around your midsection but your abdomen can have special kind of fat
00:54called visceral fat and that's the deeper fat that lives around your organs like your liver
00:58and too much visceral fat can increase your risk of certain chronic conditions like diabetes heart
01:04disease etc so that's why doctors and other health care providers sometimes use waist circumference as
01:11a way to measure disease risk and anything over 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men is linked with
01:18a higher risk of those chronic conditions so around your belly there's two types of fat that surface layer
01:23subcutaneous fat and that deeper level fat that really impacts our health called visceral fat
01:32one type of nutrient that you should eat more of to help reduce belly fat is soluble fiber and
01:37that's the type of fiber that found in foods like fruits vegetables legumes and whole grains like oatmeal
01:44now people who eat more fiber over time are less likely to accumulate fat around their midsection so
01:51higher fiber diets are linked with not gaining weight around your belly over time again it's not a
01:57magical cure but having some of those higher fiber foods in your diet also help keep you full for
02:03longer so as anyone knows who's ever been on a diet the last thing you want to feel is hungry all the time
02:09right as soon as you eat you're hungry again eating meals and snacks that have fiber in them help keep
02:15you full you're more satisfied you're less likely to overeat those fiber rich foods also have other
02:20health promoting compounds in them for the most part right we're talking fruits vegetables whole grains
02:25they're really good for you and they may help reduce the risk of having too much belly fat over time
02:31we actually created a whole video on fiber we can drop the link here so you can check that out if you want to learn more
02:36another nutrient you want to add more of to your diet if you're trying to lose belly fat is protein
02:46high protein diets are associated with having lower belly fat so people who eat more protein tend to
02:52have less fat around their midsection protein just like fiber also helps keep you full so when you have
02:58meals and snacks that have protein you're again more satisfied you're less likely to have those blood sugar
03:03spikes because protein takes longer to digest so focusing on protein can be a really great way
03:09to help you stay full on your eating plan protein also helps you maintain muscle mass when you're losing
03:15weight right so there's no way to target just your midsection but overall weight loss can help you lose
03:20belly fat and protein is really important because as you lose weight it helps you maintain muscle muscle is
03:26really important for so many reasons keeps you strong helps keep you active reduce your injury risk but
03:31also burns calories at a higher rate so it's really important to hang on to that muscle mass as you're
03:37losing weight and high protein diets can help you do that you don't have to count every single gram
03:41of protein that you eat if you like tracking that's certainly one way to do it but one thing
03:45i recommend is just making sure you're having a good high quality source of protein at most of your
03:50meals and snacks so really be mindful of does this meal have a protein source good protein sources
03:55include meats from chicken red meat pork fish seafood also beans tofu legumes dairy and eggs
04:06now you know which types of foods and nutrients to include more of in your diet if you want to lose
04:10belly fat but what should you cut back on one nutrient is added sugar now added sugar is something
04:16that most of us get too much of in our diets you'll find it in sodas and sweetened beverages desserts of
04:21course but also in breads and crackers and other places you might not think to look increased added
04:27sugar is associated with higher levels of belly fat eating too much added sugar also makes it harder to
04:33lose weight or maintain your weight because you're getting a fair amount of calories without a lot of
04:38nutrients so when i talk about added sugar i'm not talking about the natural types of sugar found in fruits and
04:44dairy but anything that you would add to foods any way to sweeten foods that uses sugar be it sugar high
04:51fructose corn syrup honey brown rice syrup there are a lot of different names for added sugar so
04:56being mindful of your added sugar intake you don't have to cut it out completely but just cutting back
05:02and again being more mindful can help you lose weight and also may help you lose fat around your
05:07midsection another drink you might want to cut back on is alcohol there is you know the idea of a beer
05:13belly or just if you drink you're gonna get all your fat around your middle research is mixed around
05:18whether alcohol is directly correlated with weight gain or on your midsection some studies have found
05:23yes some studies have not found a correlation but what we do know about alcohol is it's not great for
05:29your health and there have been some observational studies that have found people who drink alcohol
05:34in higher amounts tend to have more fat around their middle and especially that deeper type of visceral fat
05:40which we know isn't great for our health so some alcohol in moderation can be okay but what we know is
05:46no level of alcohol consumption is really great for you and if you do want to lose weight it can be
05:51tricky to do when you're consuming alcohol because it's higher in calories and again not giving you
05:56any nutrition so if you do like to have a drink drink in moderation which is no more than one drink
06:01a day for women or two drinks a day for men and remember that cutting back might help you lose weight
06:06more easily and also reduce fat around your belly
06:08it's not just about what you eat when it comes to belly fat there are lifestyle choices and factors
06:17that come into play as well one thing that's associated with higher levels of belly fat is
06:22high levels of stress now don't get stressed out it's okay we all feel stressed but learning ways to
06:28manage your stress more effectively can help one your overall stress levels and health but to reduce
06:34those levels of belly fat stress increases a hormone called cortisol that's your stress hormone when we
06:39have increased levels of cortisol it's actually associated with higher levels of belly fat stress
06:44can also cause you to crave those high calorie highly palatable foods like brownies and chips and pizza
06:50no one's stressed eating salads right so trying to adopt practices that helps get your stress under
06:57control can be really helpful for your overall health and also for levels of belly fat so practicing things
07:02like yoga or meditation exercise and movement getting outside making sure you're getting enough sleep
07:09and potentially talking to someone just find something you can do to help those higher stress
07:14levels for again your health and your belly fat now since we're talking about food i want to mention
07:19here that sometimes when people try to eat healthier they end up feeling stressed about everything they put
07:25in their mouth they feel afraid that they can't eat a carb or this type of fat or this type of food so try
07:30not to stress too much about your diet you can make healthier choices and sometimes eat foods that
07:36may not be the most nutritious but it's really about your overall eating habits and remembering that
07:41stressing about everything you eat may be doing you more harm than good now let's talk movement
07:50exercise isn't necessarily helpful for weight loss but people who lose weight and keep it off over time
07:56tend to have exercise added into their daily life exercise is also really really good for you beyond
08:02just weight loss now when it comes to belly fat it's not like you can do a few crunches or a plank and
08:08immediately target your midsection those work your abdominal muscles but it's about overall moving your
08:14body more now there is research on cardio versus strength training and what you really want to do to see the most bang for
08:20your buck is combine the two so you add some cardiovascular exercises which is great for upping
08:25your calorie burn also really great for your heart health so things like walking swimming jogging biking
08:31and also do some strength training which again helps you build muscle and avoid muscle loss if you're
08:36trying to lose weight and again adding that muscle into your body can help you burn more calories over
08:41time and prevents your metabolism from slowing down as you lose weight as quickly so two types of exercise
08:47really important i think you know you could really do a deep dive into the research and try to pick out
08:52which is more important or which type of cardio should you do at the end of the day most of us
08:56just aren't moving enough so find some activities you like start small we have a great resource of fitness
09:02guides on healthline.com and on our youtube page so check that out if you need some tips
09:10another thing you need to make sure you're doing enough of to help reduce belly fat and improve your
09:15health is get enough sleep so sleeping less than five hours a night was associated with higher belly
09:21fat levels compared to people who slept seven hours or more now sometimes these things are out of your
09:26control maybe you have a shift working job or you work two jobs and it's just hard to get that good
09:31chunk of sleep but there are certain things you can do to help your sleep hygiene exposing yourself to
09:36light in the morning can help with your natural circadian rhythms plus having a consistent bedtime and a
09:42consistent wake time can really help and a lot of us are guilty of this myself included sometimes but
09:47try to turn off the screens which means no staring at your phone right before you go to bed again good
09:52for your overall health not getting enough sleep can also lead you to crave those higher calorie higher
09:57fat foods during the day so if you're trying to lose weight and belly fat and just improve your health
10:03sleep's really important i hope you learned something and have decided to maybe try out some of these
10:07helpful tips that may help reduce your belly fat when it comes to losing weight or losing belly fat
10:13again there is nothing magical you can do to target that specific area but these things do have
10:18research to support them that may help you on your journey it's also important to remember that fat
10:24distribution is based a lot on genetics so if you look around you probably see people in all different
10:29body types and sizes and shapes and a lot of that you can't change even if you change up your habits but
10:35you can definitely take steps to improve your health and maybe also lose some weight and belly
10:39fat by adopting some of these tips like eating more fiber and protein and cutting back on added sugar
10:44and alcohol and again taking care of that stress sleep and movement throughout the day if you liked what
10:50you saw let us know in the comments down below if there's any other nutrition questions you have
10:55i'd love to answer them in an upcoming video and don't forget to like hit that bell and subscribe to learn more
11:00from me and helpline
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