Increase your fibre intake
Finally an easy way to reduce an overly large belly: For every 10 grams of soluble fibre that you consume a day, you lose 3.7% abdominal fat over a period of five years, according to a new study. Furthermore, if you exercise moderately you can double the loss of body fat.
The novelty of this study is not that increased fibre intake may reduce weight, what’s new is that researchers this time have looked at the relationship between fibre intake and specific fat deposits.
It is not just risky to have too much body fat. It very much depends on where your body fat is located. The fat that surrounds internal organs is called visceral fat. Long-term studies suggest a correlation between the level of visceral fat and the risk of blood sugar disorders in the form of impaired glucose tolerance and type-2-diabetes and hypertension and fatty liver. In contrast, subcutaneous fat is not harmful.
Intake of soluble fibre did not affect the level of subcutaneous fat, but if you also exercise moderately, you can at the same time achieve a reduction of 7.4% of visceral fat and 3.6% of subcutaneous fat compared with those who do not exercise.
Ref
Hairston KG, et al. Lifestyle Factors and 5-Year Abdominal Fat Accumulation in a Minority Cohort: The IRAS Family Study. Obesity (Silver Spring). The 2011th [Epub ahead of print]
Too much abdominal fat?
In the study the amount of abdominal fat was accurately measured using CT scanning. An easy way to figure out whether you have unnecessary visceral fat is to measure your waistline. If the waistline is 88 cm or more (for women) or 102 cm or more (for men) you most likely have too much visceral fat and, hence, an increased risk for later complications.
About Bio-Fiber
Bio-fiber from Pharma Nord is composed of soluble and insoluble fibre from sugar beets and apples. Each tablet weighs 0.7 g. A daily supplement of Bio-Fiber makes it easier to reach the desired level of fibre in the diet.