Potbelly, spare tyre, middle-aged spread, alcohol belly or the unsightly paunch – however you may refer to it, belly fat is not only annoying, it can be harmful to one’s health. When it comes to getting rid of visceral fat, one diet that has proven effective is intermittent fasting. How does it work?
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Intermittent fasting has gained a lot of popularity over the years and is a popular way for some to lose weight, belly fat and visceral fat.
It’s a relatively easy pattern of eating which involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting.
Unlike dieting, intermittent fasting does not restrict any foods.
It simply focuses on when a person should eat them.
By following an intermittent way of eating, a person will eat fewer meals and, in turn, fewer calories.
How intermittent fasting can help you lose visceral fat
With intermittent fasting, eating fewer meals can lead to an automatic reduction in calorie intake.
Additionally, intermittent fasting changes a person’s hormone levels which facilitates weight loss.
As these changes in hormones take place, short-term fasting can help increase a person’s metabolic rate by as much as 3.6 to 14 percent.
By helping a person eat less and burn more calories, intermittent fasting causes weight loss by changing both sides of the calorie equation and could help a person lose their visceral fat.
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In a study with the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, intermittent fasting and how it could help with weight loss was investigated.
The study noted: “Intermittent fasting facilitates weight loss and improves coronary heart disease risk indicators.
“This study examined the effects of intermittent fasting plus cardiovascular risks on body weight, body composition and cardiovascular heart disease risk.”
The study involved obese woman and found at the end of the study, those who followed the intermittent fasting diet had a decrease in body weight, decrease in fat mass and visceral fat was reduced.
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In another study with Science Direct, intermittent fasting vs daily calorie restriction was investigated.
The study noted: “Recent findings suggest that intermittent fasting is effective for weight loss and cardio protection.
“The goal of this review was to compare the effects of intermittent fasting on body weight, fasting glucose, fasting insulin and insulin sensitivity in overweight and obese adults.”
The study found that an intermittent fasting style helped reduce visceral fat by four to seven percent over a period of six to 24 weeks.
When a person follows a diet which involves fasting it helps them to lose weight as they are consuming fewer calories.
Short-term fasting leads to several changes in the body which help burn fat.
Other changes include reducing insulin, increasing the growth hormone, enhancing epinephrine signalling and boosting metabolism.
Numerous studies indicate that intermittent fasting can help a person to lose weight and reduce their waist circumference, indicating a large loss of the harmful belly fat in the abdominal cavity, strongly linked to chronic disease.
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