I often am asked how to rid the body of the "belly fat" which is a combination of subcutaneous fat and Visceral Fat. Subcutaneous fat is made up of brown, beige, and white fat cells. Visceral fat is white fat that is fat that is stored around your organs. An increase in the visceral fat around your organs is a sign of disease. Whole-body fat is a sign of excess sugars, insulin imbalance, and hormone imbalance. Main reasons we get visceral fat: stress, hormones, and toxins.
How to get rid of it? the short of it you need to add healthy fats, reduce processed carbs, and sugars. Support your detox organs like the liver, spleen, and colon. Support insulin flexibility (DONT OVERDO OR UNDER DO SUGAR, most don't worry about not getting enough sugar cause it is in almost everything). Support stress reduction by meditating, use adaptogens (ex. ashwagandha). Use up the stored glucose in the body through intermittent fasting (for those of you who hate to move) or movement, or do both! Usually, you will see fat all over the body before you see an increase of just belly fat. THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO DEAL WITH IT! However, on the belly, you can have an increase in both types of fat. Visceral fat, is not the fat you can just go workout and it disappears quickly, you can not do 1000 crunches and it disappears you will likely lose Subcutaneous fat first.
Subcutaneous fat is more about sugar and movement. Visceral fat is a little more difficult. Visceral fat growing is suffocating our organs and a sign of sickness, so how do we support the body to reduce visceral fat? Release of toxins, support hormones and balance out inflammation. How do we do this nutritionally? We add in omega 3's, we remove deep-fried foods and additives of corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, Soy oil, Safflower oil, and Sunflower oil as much as we can. We eat more fats like raw dairy, meat fats, fish, and raw plant fats. Green tea helps with visceral fat and foods high in EGCG's.
Support healthy hormones and lower cortisol by meditating, take Cataplex C (vitamin C). Take adaptogens to help deal with stress. Adaptogens like Ashwagandha. Rhodiola, Schisandra help support hormones and cortisol balance. Boost the liver with milk thistle, beets, and bitters. We can supplement liver support also Livco, Livton, Livaplex, Antronex, and Betafood. This is helping to filter out toxins through the liver and colon. Limit sugar, an abundance of processed food, and carbohydrates.
We have been led to believe that fat is what makes us store fat, yet fatty liver isn't from fat it is from sugar. Fats are the good guy, your body uses your fat to store toxins so they do not cause harm to your vital organs. Your fat is a protector of the body. It is lubricating your joints, colon, it is nourishing your hormones, brain, eyes. It does so many things yet we limit it and refuse to eat meat and animal fats. The true problem is plant oils at high heat being used over and over again, aka trans fats. Plus, we have an imbalance due to the fact that we eat an abundance of omega 6-7-9 because they are easy to get and are in most plant-based foods. Yet we are not getting enough omega 3's and plant omega 3's need the liver to convert them but the liver is overwhelmed.
Protocol
I would do a protocol of Symplex F (for women) Symplex M (for men), Livaplex, Cataplex C, and Ashwagandha. Doing intermittent fasting dependent on my personal situation. Add in healthy fats, proteins, green tea, and cinnamon. Make sure my iodine levels are doing well if not add one a day of prolamine iodine, especially if I am working out and sweating a lot. There can be specifics to each situation if you want to know what works for you set up an appointment.