There are certain foods that can help your body burn
fat, and there are certain foods that make the body store belly fat. Here are
the some surprising fat-belly foods that you will want to eliminate from your
diet. When we discuss the seven fat-belly foods that you need to remove from
your diet, I don’t want you to get too discouraged. It can be really sad to
hear the list of foods that cause a fat belly. But there are plenty of other
tasty options that can help you burn belly fat. Once you reach your goal and
eliminate excess belly fat, having the fat-belly foods on occasion won’t be too
detrimental. It’s when we eat these fat-belly foods on a regular basis that we
end up with the persistent belly fat.
White Sugar
White refined sugar is found in cakes, pies, fruit
juices, candy, and so many other things that we crave every day. Many people
are addicted to white sugar and don’t even know it. This addiction is the main
reason people get belly fat. Many people don’t think they eat a lot of sugar
because they don’t eat a lot of sweets like cookies or candy, but the problem is
that sugar is hidden in many foods, including bread, muffins, and even dried
fruit. Sugar is toxic. It has no nutritional value, it’s highly addictive, and
it makes you sick and fat.
Are you having a panic attack right now just
thinking about giving up sugar? You have to look at kicking the sugar habit as
though you are ending an addiction. The key is to understand where your sugar
is coming from and then find alternatives to eating so much sugar in your
foods.
Sugar is measured in grams, and 4 grams of sugar
equals one teaspoon. So if your soda has 40 grams of sugar, that’s about 10
teaspoons of sugar in just one soda. You can see how so many people end up
ingesting so much sugar every day. Some people used to think they are eating a
healthy breakfast by eating oatmeal. However, it may not regular oatmeal but
the sweetened, flavored, instant oatmeal, like apple-cinnamon oatmeal, and it
had about 20 grams of sugar per serving (5 teaspoons!), which is way too much.
As a guideline, the best way to minimize the amount
of sugar in your diet is to choose foods that have 5 grams or less per serving.
When the drink or food item has 5 grams or less of sugar per serving size, the
body doesn’t overreact to the sugar. This means your pancreas will not have to release
too much insulin. (It’s excess insulin that causes belly fat in the body.) To
sweeten foods, it is always better to use stevia or some equivalent herbal
sweetener rather than sugar. Stevia is a natural sweetener made from a plant
native to South America and Central America. Other countries have been using
stevia as a sugar substitute for several decades because it is virtually calorie-free
and does not affect blood glucose, which makes it a great natural alternative
to sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Sugar will cause belly fat and make you feel irritable,
moody, and tired. It can cause numerous health problems, so commit to breaking
your sugar addiction today!
White
Salt
Sodium, commonly referred to simply as “salt,” is another
major factor in excess belly fat. Simply put, excess salt causes water retention
and bloating. You’re going to want to avoid the salt shaker and salt-based
seasonings. Better alternatives are sea salt, black pepper, or cayenne pepper,
which actually boost your metabolism.
So why does salt cause bloating and heaviness in our
belly? Well, water is attracted to sodium, so when you take in high amounts of
salt, you retain more fluid—which causes that heavy, puffy appearance and that
extra water weight. Foods high in sodium include salty foods like peanuts, French
fries, potato chips, and pickles. Look at nutritional labels before you buy any
processed foods. Most of us need only 500 to 1,000 milligrams of sodium per
day, but too many of us are consuming about six times that much, resulting in
large amounts of excess belly fat and bloating.
When you slip up by eating too much of salty foods, drink
large amounts of water to flush it out.
Refined
Carbohydrates
Because the fiber in refined carbohydrates has been stripped
away, they are digested rapidly, causing insulin spikes, which results in fat storage.
The foods to avoid anything
made of white flour, including white bread and white
pasta. (Furthermore, white flour is bleached nearly the same way you bleach
your clothing. When you eat white flour, you’re eating some of those bleaching
agents, which increases the toxic overload in the body.)
Other examples of refined carbs to avoid are bagels,
biscuits, donuts, croutons, pancakes, and waffles. When reading a list of ingredients
on a label, don’t let the words “wheat flour” or “enriched wheat flour” fool you.
It is essentially the same as white flour. You want to look for the label to
explicitly say “whole wheat” or “whole grain” when you are buying pastas,
breads, and snacks for healthier alternatives. One healthy, whole wheat/whole grain
bread alternative is Ezekiel 4:9 brand breads.
So understand what refined carbs are and then avoid them.
Artificial
Sweeteners
You know them as those little yellow, pink, and blue
packages that are generally marketed as “sugar substitutes.” Most people don’t
realize that even though artificial sweeteners generally have zero calories,
they can still contribute to fat gain. These artificial sweeteners increase
appetite by sending false signals to the brain that sweet food is on the way.
The brain subsequently becomes confused when sweet food never arrives, and so
it never gives the signal that you are satisfied. This causes you to crave
sugar throughout the day and develop a sweet tooth, sometimes causing you to
eat more sugar. Yes, artificial sweeteners can cause you to crave sugar!
Let’s look at aspartame, in particular. One study
done a few years ago showed that the two main ingredients in aspartame—phenylalanine
and aspartic acid—stimulate the release of insulin and leptin, hormones that
instruct our bodies to store fat.
The best choice for a calorie-free sweetener is
stevia, an herb that grows naturally in parts of Paraguay and Brazil and is now
widely available in the United States. You don’t need much of it—it’s about thirty
times sweeter than sugar. Yet it does not raise blood sugar levels or cause
rapid-onset cravings the way simple sugars do. A study published in the Journal
of Ethno-Pharmacology found that stevia dilates the blood vessels and helps to
prevent high blood pressure. It also helps to regulate the digestive system,
encourages the growth of friendly bacteria, and helps detoxify the body and
excrete more urine naturally.
Saturated
Fats
Just saying “saturated fats” sounds fat, doesn’t it?
You will want to minimize foods that are high in saturated fat, as these can
lead specifically to belly fat. Saturated fats are found in many common meats,
especially red meat, and in whole-fat dairy products like milk and cheese. The
meats to avoid are lamb, poultry, veal, pork, and some cuts of beef. Look for
the label to say “lean or extra lean” or choice, select, London broil, or
chuck. The worst choices are red meats that say “prime”—they are flavorful but
fatty. Other meat products high in saturated fats are jerky, sausage, and
bacon. A better alternative is turkey bacon or turkey sausage. Whole-fat dairy
foods like milk, cream, cheese, and butter are high in saturated fat and can
cause belly fat. Cream based sauces, such as Alfredo, are among the worst.
Let me digress about cow’s milk for a second. There
are many issues with cow’s milk, which is why I encourage almond milk, soymilk,
and non-dairy cheeses. The same way breast milk is made for infant babies; cow’s
milk is made for infant cows and is difficult for many people to digest. It can
lead to inflammation, bloating, and indigestion. Try vegan or non-dairy milk,
such as almond, soy, or hemp milk, and non-dairy cheeses.
Eating a lot of saturated fat not only increases
belly fat, it also increases cholesterol in the blood and leads to heart attack
or stroke. Consumption of these fats should be limited or avoided altogether if
possible.
Trans
Fats (Fried Foods)
Most fried foods are cooked with partially hydrogenated
oils, which contain trans fats. Fried foods become saturated with the
hydrogenated oils we use to cook them, and these fat-filled oils cause belly
fat. And even worse, you definitely don’t want to reuse the oils in which you
fry food. Some fast food restaurants do this. Just reusing the cooking oil one
time will increase the risk of heart disease.
Some of the foods high in trans fats that can cause
belly fat are margarine, commercial baked goods, French fries, onion rings,
fried chicken, corn dogs, and funnel cakes, just to name a few. Just say no to
trans fats/fried foods! As an alternative, baked, broiled, or grilled chicken
or fish can be just as tasty as their fried versions.
Eating trans fats is like eating plastic and it is
very bad for one’s health. Trans fats disrupt metabolism, cause weight gain,
and increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, inflammation, and cancer. One
Harvard study found that getting just 3 percent of daily calories from trans
fats (about 7 to 8 grams of trans fat) increases your risk of heart disease by
50 percent. And given that the average person has about 4 to 10 grams of trans
fats in his or her diet each day, it is no wonder heart disease is such a major
killer in modern times.
The good news is that the FDA regulates trans fats,
and food manufacturers now have to list how much trans fat is in each serving
when in excess of 0.5 grams. So it’s now easierto find out how much trans fats
are in your foods.
Sodas
and Fruit Juices
Sodas and store-bought fruit juices are high in
white sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup and thus cause belly fat. If you
are still drinking regular sodas and fruit juices, then just removing those
will make a huge difference in getting rid of belly fat!
As a first step, begin substituting diet soda for
regular soda. Then gradually decrease the number of diet sodas you drink as
well. Although diet sodas are better than regular sodas because they have no
sugar, diet sodas still cause some health and weight issues. Diet sodas have
been found to make you crave sugar and fattening foods because of the artificial
sweeteners in them. Don’t replace them with store-bought juices because those
contain a lot of sugar and additives that cause weight gain.
A great alternative is green tea (hot or cold),
which is a fat burner and helps you lose more weight while still allowing you
to get your caffeine fix for the day. You could also try plain water. If that
does not sound appealing, try adding a bit of fresh lemon to flavor it.
So, sodas/diet sodas/fruit juices all cause belly
fat! Gradually ease off of them. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Start to make
better food choices one day at a time. It’s about progress not perfection!