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| flickr photo/Karimian |
If you don't have trouble with belly fat, count yourself lucky.
Many of us find it tough to lose our beer gut, our spare tire, our love handles--whatever you call the layer of fat that collects around the midsection.
It's bad enough that belly fat makes it hard to zip our jeans. Turns out, it can also compromise our health. The problem is that the fat you see is accompanied by fat deep below the surface of the skin.
This subcutaneous fat, called visceral fat, cozies up to our organs and gets busy pumping out hormones, fatty acids and protein molecules called Cytokines.
Cytokines signal the immune system that the body is under attack. This summons white blood cells ready to fight off perceived injuries, infections and irritations.
Cells on constant immune system alert results in chronic inflammation. Along with a host of health risks, chronic inflammation promotes insulin resistance, a condition which can result in weight gain and may eventually lead to diabetes.
When a person has insulin resistance, their cells don't readily absorb glucose, the primary energy source used by cells. The body responds to this resistance by producing more insulin.
Prolonged excess insulin results in a state called "hyperinsulinemia," which makes it hard for the body to use fat for energy. Compounding the problem, extra insulin is not secreted but is instead stored as fat in the body.
It's a vicious cycle, in which fat causes fat.
I know. Not fair. Still, there are some lifestyle changes that can help you win the subcutaneous battle of the bulge. The first is to consume less calories.
According to an article on the website of Washington University in St. Louis, a lowered caloric intake "shrinks the size of fat cells and decreases the amount of fat inside the abdomen and other tissues."
There are also some key foods to avoid if you want to discourage inflammation, says nutritionist Monica Reinagel, author of "The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan."
These include the usual weight gain suspects: Foods high in trans fats, such as fried foods, foods containing hydrogenated vegetable oils and foods high in sugar. Junk food such as French fries, cookies, potato chips, cakes and donuts should be limited because they fan the fires of inflammation.
Fire-fighters
Fortunately, fighting belly fat doesn't always mean abstaining. There are a number of tasty and filling foods that help conquer inflammation. Substituting these for processed foods can promote weight loss without a feeling of deprivation.
When you want to stave off inflammation, look for foods loaded with antioxidants, says Reinagel in an article on the Quick and Dirty Tips website.
Chief among these are fruits and vegetables. Which ones are best? Keep the slogan from the Skittles campaign--"Taste the rainbow"--in mind when picking produce. Typically, the more brilliantly a fruit or vegetable is colored, the more antioxidants it contains, advises Reinagel.
She recommends eating a healthy variety of melons, citrus fruits, berries, leafy vegetables, peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes and winter squash.
The XanGo connection
I would add juice from the mangosteen fruit--a relative newcomer to the western diet and the primary ingredient in XanGo juice--to that list. Mangosteen, which does indeed have a brilliant purple skin, contains phytonutrients called Xanthones, which are heavy-hitting anti-oxidants.
One of these xanthones, called gamma-magostin, is remarkably efficient at fighting inflammation.
Inflammation is also cooled by eating foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids and beneficial monounsaturated fats, says Reinagel. These include: avocados, almonds, walnuts, olives, olive oil and oily fish like salmon, anchovies, mackerel and herring. If you've got a fish phobia, consider taking fish oil in capsule form.
In my next blog, we'll talk about how to make inflammation-free eating fun with a number of snack suggestions and recipes. Some of these will include seasoning with spices and seasonings known to counteract inflammation.
Thanks for reading. Until I post my next blog, stay cool!
Cynthia Podlaski is not a registered nutritionist or a doctor. She's a XanGo distributor who's passionate about health and well-being. To find out more about XanGo, contact her via http://www.mymangosteen.com/ThePodlaskis/biz/
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