How to get rid of visceral fat: Foods rich in vitamin D and calcium burn belly fat

Dr Zoe Williams discusses visceral fat on This Morning

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Visceral fat, or belly fat, is linked to a number of serious health conditions including heart attack, stroke and certain cancers. What we put in our mouths will directly affect one’s belly fat. With that in mind, health experts advise eating a diet rich in certain foods which are known for their fat-burning capabilities.

When a person has adequate vitamin D levels, their body releases more leptin, the hormone that conveys you are full to the brain.

Conversely, less vitamin D in the body means less leptin and therefore less satiety.

In fact, an Australian study showed that people who ate a breakfast high in vitamin D and calcium blunted their appetites for the next 24 hours.

Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to insulin resistance, which leads to hunger and overeating, said Dr Liz Applegate, director of sports nutrition at the University of California at Davis.

When there is enough vitamin D in the bloodstream, fat cells slow their efforts to make and store fat.

However, when your vitamin D is low, levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and a second hormone, calcitrol, rise which has a dire effect on fat loss.

High levels of these hormones turn a person’s body into a fat miser, encouraging it to hoard fat instead of burning it.

A Norwegian study found that elevated PTH levels increased a man’s risk of becoming overweight by 40 percent.

There is good evidence which shows that diets high in calcium are associated with reduced rates of being overweight or obese.

“At midlife, women tend to gain one-quarter to one-half a pound per year whether they want it or not, and it all goes to their waist,” explained Dr Robert Heaney, an internationally recognised expert in bone biology and calcium nutrition with Creighton University in Nebraska.

In fact, an Australian study showed that people who ate a breakfast high in vitamin D and calcium blunted their appetites for the next 24 hours.

In studies of both mice and men, Dr Zemel and colleagues have been the first to show that calcium stored in fat cells plays a crucial role in regulating how fat is processed and stored by the body.

Their findings concluded that the more calcium there is in a fat cell, the more fat the cell will burn – and the greater the weight loss.

So, if adequate levels of vitamin D and calcium are present in meals to help start the belly fat burning process, what are the best options?

Foods that are high in calcium include:

Spinach

Kale

Soybeans

• White beans
• Some fish, like sardines, salmon, perch, and rainbow trout
• Foods that are calcium-fortified, such as some orange juice, oatmeal, and breakfast cereal.
• Foods that provide vitamin D include:
• Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon.

Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals

• Beef liver
• Cheese
• Egg yolks.

Obesity has been linked to 13 cancers, including the two most prevalent (breast and colorectal), as well as cardiovascular disease, which remains a leading cause of death worldwide.

The most harmful type of obesity is caused by the excessive accumulation of so-called “deep” fat.

Contrary to fat stores located directly under the skin, deep, or visceral, fat stores reside inside our abdominal cavity, where they envelop vital organs.

In normal amounts, visceral fat supports various fundamental functions, such as reproduction.

However, when it is too abundant, it produces unhealthy levels of proteins and hormones that negatively affect neighbouring tissues and organs. 
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