How to get rid of visceral fat: Three supplements to help reduce the harmful belly fat

HOW TO get rid of visceral fat: Visceral fat is a type of body fat associatedwith an increased risk for developing medical disorders, but what can you doto reduce it? Taking certain supplements could prove effective. Visceral fat has been linked with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome,cardiovascular disease and several malignancies including prostate, breast andcolorectal cancers. A person stands risk of developing these health problemsbecause of where visceral fat is stored in the body - in the abdominal cavitynext to many vital organs, including the liver, stomach and intestines.Clearly, it's important for the healthy function of the body to avoid highlevels of visceral fat, and fortunately there are ways of reducing it.Observational studies have found intakes of fruit, dairy, whole grains andfibre are protective, whereas intakes fried foods, alcohol, red and processedmeat, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains and high glycaemic index foodsare associated with higher levels of visceral fat. Studies have also shown thebenefit of exercise in reducing visceral fat with aerobic exercise of moderateor high intensity having the highest potential to reduce visceral fat inoverweight adults. Alongside making dietary changes and increasing moderate tohigh intensity aerobic exercise; certain nutritional supplements could alsohelp to reduce visceral fat, according to Claire Barnes, nutritional therapistat Lepicol. Inulin is an insoluble fibre which bypasses absorption in thesmall intestine and therefore reaches the large intestines unabsorbed. Claireexplained: "Bacteria in the gut feed on the inulin and produce short chainfatty acids (SCFAs). "These SCFAs promote the loss of visceral fat throughincreased fat metabolism, using the stored fat as a source of energy." Whilstinulin can be found naturally in foods such as chicory root, dandelion root,asparagus, bananas and wheat, these foods would need to be consumed inextremely large quantities to realise these benefits, according to Claire. Sheadded: "A simple and effective alternative would be to incorporate adequateamounts of inulin into your daily diet with a supplement such as Lepicol,which contains 30 per cent inulin alongside psyllium husk fibre and fivestrains of live bacteria. Studies have shown that in obese individuals, thegut microbiota composition can be significantly different from that of leanindividuals and that modification of gut microbiota composition can beassociated with increases or reductions of body weight and body mass index(BMI). Claire cited: "A study in 2018 involving 81 obese postmenopausal womenwho were given a multi-strain live bacteria supplement demonstratedsignificant differences in their fat percentage and visceral fat levels."Studies appear to show that selective mixtures of live bacteria strains couldbe more effective than single strains in improving metabolic processesassociated with obesity. "Look for a live bacteria supplement which containsmultiple strains and species, such as Bio-Kult Advanced which contains 14different live bacteria strains from five different species." A studyinvestigating different nutrient intake with fat distribution, found thatvisceral fat was positively associated with nutrients characteristic of animalproducts, including arachidonic acid (omega-6 fatty acid). Claire added: "Aswell as arachidonic acid (AA) being obtained from meat, poultry and eggs it isalso converted in the body from vegetable oils found in many processed foods."Supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) have shown tosignificantly reduce AA:EPA ratios. "An omega-3 supplement (fish oil or algaeoil) could help to improve your omega 6:omega 3 fat ratio alongside swappingmeat to oily fish (salmon, mackerel and sardines) twice a week."