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Eat Well Enjoy Life
Transition to a Healthy Diet with Little Effort and Big Results
| July 30, 2012
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Happy Summer !
I am loving the long days of summer and the delicious local food available in the markets, especially the vegetables I hope you are enjoying the summer also.
I have seen so many people carrying weight around their middle. This puts the health of your entire body at risk. Even if you are thin but have some weight around your tummy you are putting your health at risk. Why this is this belly fat so bad and what can we do about it? Today's article will help you understand a little more about "belly fat".
There are probably foods you are eating contributing the fat on your belly. You may not realize even certain so called "healthy foods " prevent you from getting the nutrients you need, causing you to store fat around your middle.
Check out The Complete Diet Review Breakthrough Session to learn how you can easily make some improvements to your diet. This is a 1 on 1 session where you will learn how you can make a big change in your health with just a small amount of coaching.
I will give you guidelines and recipes with delicious foods you can make in 30 minutes or less that will help you get the nutrients you need to have more energy and lose some weight (including belly fat). I will also show you specifically which foods in your diet may be packing on the belly fat and what you can eat instead to turn your "fat burning switch on".
If you schedule your session by Sunday August 5, you will get $50 off the cost of the program. We will arrange the session according to your needs within the next 2 weeks. Click here for more information.
Read the article below to find out why reducing your belly fat is so important.
In this newsletter, I have included a recipe for Zucchini Hummus which is a lighter version of the traditional hummus we all love. Since it has no beans it is very easy to digest too.
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Why Is Belly Fat So Dangerous
Why is belly fat worse, than let's say, thigh fat? Well it is not only because we don't like the way it looks. There are two kinds of fat: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is that fat you can see and grab onto, you know those "love handles." It's the fat that doesn't look great but it's not so risky. Then there's visceral fat, that's the kind of fat that hides inside. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds the abdominal organs and it's dangerous because it acts like an organ secreting all kinds of substances into your body.
Creates Hormone Imbalances - These belly fat molecules are active and release substances like 'leptin' and 'adiponectin' which influence the functioning of Insulin (a blood glucose metabolizing hormone). Leptin is a hormone which tells you when to stop eating. If you have too much leptin you can get "leptin resistance" and your brain thinks you are starving, so you keep eating.
Secretes Toxins Affecting Your Immunity - Belly fat doesn't just sit idle. According to research done by Alexander Viardot, a researcher for the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, "due to the high levels of toxins produced by this type of fat, having too large of a belly can result in a significantly weakened immune system."
Increases Your Risk Of Heart Disease These belly fat cells release immune system chemicals called 'cytokines' that are mainly involved in killing off tumors and other defense mechanisms. Unregulated release of these chemicals can increase risks of cardiovascular diseases. They also dangerously alter several other mechanisms like the cells' sensitivity to insulin, blood pressure and clotting
Affects Your Cholesterol - Belly fat lives close to the portal vein, which connects the intestine to the liver. This excess fat enters the vein and causes the secretion of blood lipids. This is dangerous because it causes an increase in the ratio of LDL (bad cholesterol) to HDL (good cholesterol).
Decreases Your Brain Function -The Harvard Medical School Journal also says that people with bigger bellies are more susceptible to diminished memory and verbal fluency. Your brain may shrink with every pound of belly fat you gain.
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- Chemicals - Certain chemicals in our food supply and our environment, such as pesticides, herbicides, and certain petrochemicals from air and water pollution, household cleaners, cosmetics, etc can react with your body and make your body store excess abdominal fat. These chemicals are known as xenoestrogens. These estrogenic chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis can stimulate your body to store belly fat, along with many other problems (including cancer risks in the long term).
- Stress - When we are stressed we release cortisol into our body. Chronic stress results in too much cortisol in the body. Cortisol is the fat storing hormone. A study at Yale by Elissa S. Epel, Ph.D., showed cortisol affects fat distribution by causing fat to be stored centrally-around the organs as visceral fat.
- Sugar- Eating carb and sugar rich foods spike your blood sugar which causes inflammation, high cholesterol, heart disease and other nasty things to go on in your body. This happens because of your body has to produce insulin to deal with the sugar. When you have too much insulin you get fat. Insulin is another "fat-storage hormone" particularly belly fat.
- Trans fats and oxidized fats - When you eat processed foods and foods cooked in oils that oxidize, it causes your body to produce insulin in high amounts which as I just said is another fat-storing hormone. The high presence of insulin in your body causes the fat burning hormone known as glucagon to get turned off. This results in more belly fat.
Imbalanced hormones, insulin and cortisol are one of the greatest causes of belly fat.
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Tips to Reduce Belly Fat
Eat A Whole Foods Diet - It is best to have a diet that is 70% vegetables 30% proteins, fats and whole grains. Plan to get
get your carbohydrates primarily from vegetables. Choose low glycemic grains like millet and quinoa. Eat clean, lean proteins free from hormones and antibiotics.
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Eat Healthy Fats - Choose fats like those found in extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocados,. These fats have medium chain triglyceride (MCT), which the body uses for fuel, not storage. This turns on the genes to boost your metabolism with will begin to reduce your belly fat. Avoid processed vegetable oils which are toxic to your system.
Cruciferous Vegetables - One of those tricks that I teach my clients that hire me for nutritional counseling is the use of cruciferous vegetables to help fight against belly fat. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, etc. contain very specific and unique phytonutrients such as indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that help to fight against those estrogenic compounds found in many of our foods today.
Flax Seed and Chia Seeds - According to Dr Oz in a recent article, flax seeds are a belly fat burning wonder. I also love chia seeds which are high in Omega-3's. Be sure you get enough water when you include these seeds in your diet.
Reduce Stress - Try some stress reducing techniques like Tapping or deep breathing to lower the levels of cortisol in your body. Tapping is a practice that produced a 24% decrease in cortisol after just one hour in a study done by Dr. Dawson Church, PhD and Dr, David Feinstein, PhD.
I hope you found this article helpful. If you want to learn how you can get rid of that belly fat, sign up for The Complete Diet Review Breakthrough Session. During our 1 on 1 session we will discuss what your body needs and what you enjoy eating. I will then designed a menu plan and recipes associated with your diet to help you begin to establish a foundation of health for a thriving body. If you sign up by Sunday August 5 you will receive a $50 discount on the session. Click Here to sign up!
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 Zucchini Hummus Tahini is full of the good fat you need to turn on your "fat burning switch". It is a nutritional powerhouse, it contains all the essential amino acids, making it a high quality protein, plus it is rich in lecithin, vitamin E and calcium. It is easily digestible because its high alkaline mineral content neutralizes the acid end products of the protein. 4 servings ¼ cup sesame seeds ground into a powder (if you don't have a spice grinder soak the sesame seeds for 4 hours in water and drain) ½ -1 tsp Celtic sea salt (start with ½ you can always add more) 2 cloves chopped garlic (2 tsp) 2 cups chopped zucchini 1/2 cup tahini ¼ cup lemon juice 1 ½ tsp ground cumin 2 Tb olive oil Pinch cayenne - Put sesame seeds, sea salt and garlic into a food processer.
- Process into small pieces.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.
- Stuff into endive and serve with salad.
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