Trusted Source). Numerous studies have indicated that excess sugar, mostly due to the large amounts of fructose, can lead to fat building up around your abdomen and liver (6). Sugar is half glucose and half fructose. When you eat a lot of added sugar, the liver gets overloaded with fructose and is forced to turn it into fat (4
Trusted Source, 5). Some believe that this is the main process behind sugar’s harmful effects on health. It increases abdominal fat and liver fat, which leads to insulin resistance and various metabolic problems (7
Trusted Source). Liquid sugar is worse in this regard. The brain doesn’t seem to register liquid calories in the same way as solid calories, so when you drink sugar-sweetened beverages, you end up eating more total calories (8
Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source). A study observed that children were 60% more likely to develop obesity with each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverages (10). Try minimizing the amount of sugar in your diet, and consider completely eliminating sugary drinks. This includes sugar-sweetened beverages, sugary sodas, fruit juices, and various high sugar sports drinks. Read the labels to make sure products do not contain refined sugars. Even foods marketed as health foods can contain significant amounts of sugar. Keep in mind that none of this applies to whole fruit, which are extremely healthy and have plenty of fiber that mitigates the negative effects of fructose. Eat more protein: Protein may be the most important macronutrient for weight loss. Research shows it can reduce cravings by 60%, boost metabolism by 80–100 calories per day, and help you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day (11
Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source). If weight loss is your goal, adding protein may be the single most effective change you can make to your diet. Not only can protein help you to lose weight, but it may also help you to avoid regaining weight (15
Trusted Source). Protein may be particularly effective in reducing abdominal fat. One study showed that people who ate more and, better protein had much less abdominal fat (16
Trusted Source). Another study indicated that protein was linked to a significantly reduced chance of abdominal fat gain over 5 years in women (17
Trusted Source). This study also linked refined carbs and oils to more abdominal fat and linked fruit and vegetables to reduced fat. Many of the studies observing that protein helps with weight loss had people getting 25–30% of their calories from protein. Therefore, this may be a good range to try. Try increasing your intake of high protein foods such as whole eggs, fish, legumes, nuts, meat, and dairy products. These are the best protein sources for your diet. When following a vegetarian or vegan diet, check out this article on how to increase your protein intake. We include products we think are useful for our readers.
You must be logged in to post a comment.