This can actually melt belly fat.
The best way to shed belly fat is exercise, according to the research.
People lose more visceral (belly) fat while exercising than they do taking weight loss medication.
Exercise can actually melt belly fat.
One reason is that exercise stimulates the release of a signalling molecule called interleukin-6.
It is released from the skeletal muscle and plays an important role in breaking down fats in healthy people.
High levels of belly fat are linked to cancer, dementia, cardio-metabolic disease and early death.
Dr Anne-Sophie Wedell-Neergaard, the study’s first author, said:
“The take home for the general audience is ‘do exercise’.
We all know that exercise promotes better health, and now we also know that regular exercise training reduces abdominal fat mass and thereby potentially also the risk of developing cardio-metabolic diseases.”
The study involved 53 people who did several 45-minute sessions per week on an exercise bike.
The results showed that fat was reduced by 8 percent, or 225 grams in 12 weeks.
However, some people were given a drug that blocks the action of interleukin-6.
Instead of losing weight, this group gained 278 grams of fat, despite exercising.
The study helps show that it is interleukin-6 that is causally involved in weight loss.
Dr Wedell-Neergaard said:
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that interleukin-6 has a physiological role in regulating visceral fat mass in humans.”
Diet, of course, is also helpful in shedding belly fat.
Unfortunately, there is no miracle food that can reduce belly fat on its own.
However, eating a heart-healthy diet high in fibre can help to reduce abdominal fat.
Dr Wedell-Neergaard said:
“It is important to stress that when you start exercising, you may increase body weight due to increased muscle mass.
So, in addition to measuring your overall body weight, it would be useful, and maybe more important, to measure waist circumference to keep track of the loss of visceral fat mass and to stay motivated.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism (Wedell-Neergaard et al., 2018).
