You may be exercising and taking other steps to reduce belly fat, but you may not be able to see results yet. This may be because you are eating the wrong types of food and making many mistakes that increase abdominal fat.
Did you know that there are certain foods that contribute to your abdominal fat growth?
Eliminating these foods from your diet can do you a lot of good and can also give you a slim tummy. Here are the eating mistakes you shouldn’t make and certain foods you should eliminate or drastically reduce your intake.
1. Diet sodas
This may be a surprise. While you may be avoiding sugar-laden sodas and packaged drinks, drinking diet soda won’t do you any good. Synthetic sweeteners have been associated with many health risks. They have also been shown to contribute to abdominal fat. This means that you must strictly stay away from diet soda along with other packaged drinks. Take natural juices or coconut water to hydrate, and the best of all will always be pure water.
2. Crash diets
An American study has shown that extreme diets or crash diets could build more belly fat and less muscle. It also leads to an increase in metabolic factors and functions, including body weight, blood volume, blood pressure, heart rate, and kidney function.
Stick to a healthy diet instead of resorting to such drastic and harmful measures as crash diets, which even rebound as a consequence, making you gain weight that you may be able to lose.
3. Diet deficient in fiber
Not eating enough soluble fiber hampers digestion and can lead to visceral fat. Your diet should be full of legumes, flax seeds, sprouts, and vegetables and fruits. Fiber is essential to help in the digestive process and to control weight.
4. Simple carbohydrates
White bread, pasta, instant noodles, etc. are the main culprits of abdominal fat. These foods need to be completely eliminated. You should have multigrain bread or foods made with whole wheat flour instead.
5. Not eating enough protein
Protein keeps you full and therefore makes you eat less than if you only eat simple carbohydrates like sugary cakes and breads.
Eating protein, in balance with other foods, keeps you from cravings for unhealthy foods. So be sure to consume eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, salmon, and other sources of protein if you want to reduce the accumulation of belly fat.