The Expert Guide
To Burning Belly Fat
1Table of Contents
What Causes Belly Fat?
Fighting Belly Fat With Nutrition
Fighting Belly Fat With Exercise
Lifestyle Tips To Help Fight Belly Fat
Fighting Belly Fat With Herbs Spices
Fighting Belly Fat With Supplements
Bonus: Waist-Slimming Secrets From Around the World
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Contributors
Dr. Mark Hyman:
Mark Hyman is dedicated to tackling the root causes of chronic disease by harnessing the power of Functional Medicine to transform healthcare. Dr. Hyman is a practicing family physician, a nine-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in his field.
Herb Affair:
Herb Affair provides a wide selection of healing herbs and spices that range from Essiac Tea to Wheatgrass Powder and everything in between. Herb Affair prides itself in providing the freshest teas and powders available online, free of all pesticides, herbicides and irradiation.
Young and Raw:
Young and Raw is a place for people to learn about the healing and cleansing benefits of real food! The organization provides
21 day and 90 day cleanses, raw food meal plans ebooks on healthy living, all of which are crafted by a team of Nutritionists,
Naturopaths and other qualified experts.
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Lisa Jubilee:
Lisa Jubilee is a New York State Certified Dietician-Nutritionist, who has been counseling individuals on sustainable weight management and disease prevention for over 15 years. Her mission is to empower individuals to obtain healthy food relationships and to clearly understand the concept of food as medicine.
Authority Nutrition:
Authority Nutrition helps people make informed decisions about their health based on the best scientific evidence available. They sift through scientific literature for true answers, preferably from randomized controlled trials, which are the gold standard of research. Launched in December 2012, Authority Nutrition gets millions of visitors per month and has become a major player in the online health and nutrition scene.
Billy Picard, staff writer
Billy is the writing whizz behind the Belly Fat Guide. At home in the kitchen, Billy loves food and challenging himself to make healthy, delicious-tasting food from scratch. A fitness enthusiast, he spends his weekends running, or doing yoga in the park.
4Introduction
In an increasingly busy world, people are finding they have less and less time to focus on getting to and maintaining their ideal body weight, but many people don’t realize that the secret is making small and manageable changes throughout different areas of their Iives.
Over 70 percent of adults in America are overweight, and almost 40 percent are obese
(1). This truly is a modern epidemic, as worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980 (25). However, obesity is entirely preventable (3) and we can all work towards building a healthier lifestyle for ourselves and our families to avoid some of the issues associated with this health condition.
5Obesity increases your risk for numerous conditions including heart disease, stroke,
Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and even cancer (2). Sadly, about 3.4 million adults die each year from being overweight or obese (3). Additionally, nearly all people who are overweight already have “pre-diabetes” and have a significantly increased risk of disease and death. Many simply just don’t know it.
Is It Possible To Target Belly Fat?
Belly fat cannot be specifically targeted and reduced by itself. When losing excess weight, you have to work on reducing your weight overall. If you do this, you’ll see the weight that has gathered around your belly will reduce too.
This ebook will provide you with information covering everything from root causes of weight gain and belly fat, to how to tackle the problem from a variety of angles such as nutrition and exercise, and even what some of the best herbs and spices are to add
6to your diet. These tips have been handpicked by our team of health experts, so you’ll know you’re getting some of the best advice out there on losing belly fat for good.
Why Belly Fat is Not Your Biggest Challenge
Belly fat cannot be specifically targeted and reduced by itself. When losing excess weight, you have to work on reducing your weight overall. If you do this, you’ll see the weight that has gathered around your belly will reduce too.
This ebook will provide you with information covering everything from root causes of weight gain and belly fat, to how to tackle the problem from a variety of angles such as nutrition and exercise, and even what some of the best herbs and spices are to add to your diet. These tips have been handpicked by our team of health experts, so you’ll know you’re getting some of the best advice out there on losing belly fat for good.
7

What Causes Belly Fat?
There are a number of factors that can contribute to a person becoming overweight and developing any of the associated conditions that come with obesity. We will go into each of these in more depth throughout this ebook, but to start, we’ll take a look at a couple of causes of belly fat that many people overlook or don’t think about.
You could have a great exercise routine and eat the best, most healthy foods, but unless you also target some of these root causes, you could find your progress slowing down, or even coming to a complete halt.
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Stress
Chronic stress has become an epidemic in our society, and it’s wreaking havoc on your body. In today’s world, faster is better, and we attempt to pack increasingly more obligations into our ever-expanding schedules which puts us all under a lot of pressure.
One meta-analysis involving 300 studies, found that chronic stress could cause damage to your immune system (4) and if that wasn’t enough, a study in the journal
‘Appetite’ found stressed-out women had a significantly higher waist circumference compared to non-stressed women (5). That’s right, stress makes you fat - particularly around the belly!
When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that flood your system, raising your heart rate, increasing your blood pressure, and even belly fat storage (6). This is because deep abdominal fat contains four times the cortisol receptors than fat under the skin (26) so high levels of cortisol in the blood not only increases fat accumulation in this area, but also has an enlarging effect on the fat cells themselves (27).
Cortisol also signals for more glucose to be released into the bloodstream, and when this isn’t used up by the body, it gets stored as fat (28). Finally, when cortisol is coupled with sugar, your insulin levels increase. This leads to increased inflammation which makes you feel lousy, and the sugary foods many people might turn to as a ‘pick me up’ increase cortisol and adrenalin, starting the vicious cycle all over again!
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Dealing With Stress
You should try and tackle the stress head on if you want to start fighting you belly fat and the best way to start is by making sure you eat properly - the right diet can do wonders to reduce the impact of stress on your life. When you eat whole, real foods, you restore balance to insulin, cortisol, and other hormones, as well as the blood’s sugar levels. Helping to reduce stress’ damaging impact.
If you find that you still have the odd stressful day, there are a number of techniques you can use to cope effectively with the stress you’re under and help tackle what could be at the root of your weight issues. Here are some top stress-busting tips:
1. Address the underlying biological causes of stress. Mercury toxicity, deficiencies in magnesium and vitamin B12, as well as gluten allergies, could all be changing your brain’s chemistry and leading to issues with stress. If you suspect a nutrient
10 deficiency or imbalance, speak to a doctor or Naturopath about getting tested.
2. Actively relax. Engage the powerful forces of the mind on the body, by actively doing something relaxing. Whether that means deep breathing or a simple leisurely walk, find active relaxation that works for you and do it. Sitting in front of the television doesn’t count! You should be actively doing something to relax.
3. Move your body. Exercise is a powerful, well-studied way to combat stress and heal the mind. Studies suggest exercise works better than or equal to Prozac for treating depression (7).
4. Sleep. Lack of sleep increases stress hormones, in particular cortisol which promotes weight gain. Get your eight hours no matter what!
Insulin
Numerous hormones contribute to belly fat, but none proves more powerful than insulin - your fat storage hormone. High levels of insulin tell your body to gain weight
around the belly, and you become more apple-shaped over time. Should you become
insulin resistant, your body not only generates, but holds onto that belly fat.
However, high insulin levels don’t just exist in a vacuum. They influence other hormones like leptin, your satiety hormone. When insulin blocks leptin, your body thinks it is still hungry even after a big meal. Ever experienced this after eating a carbheavy meal like pizza or pasta?
Should you develop a fatty liver, this will generate more inflammation and anything that causes inflammation will worsen insulin resistance. Once more, you can quickly
11 fall into a negative cycle!
More than any other food, sugar is responsible for hijacking your brain chemistry and metabolism to create insulin resistance and all its repercussions. Shockingly, the average American overdoses twenty-two to thirty teaspoons of sugar per day (9).
Shut down the insulin surges and you’ll arrest belly fat storage and cravings.
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Fighting Belly Fat
With Nutrition
Everyone is familiar with the old saying “you are what you eat!” and this couldn’t be truer when it comes to achieving and maintaining your ideal weight! Diet is going to be one of your most important weapons in the fight against belly fat - you can lose weight through dieting alone. Experts estimate that around 80 to 90 percent of the success or failure of your fat loss will be attributed to your food intake (10).
However, diet shouldn’t translate as “stopping certain foods altogether”, rather, you should think about diet as your attitude towards food. Changing the kinds of food you
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eat as well as the frequency you eat them, and your portion sizes!
Getting a balance of a range of different food groups remains the most important thing. You don’t want to make your body deficient in a particular nutrient, and you want your new food intake to be sustainable over an extended period of time - avoid crazy diets that only allow you to eat/drink a very limited thing! That way, you ensure that you’ll not only lose weight but go on to build a healthy body, fueling it with the right levels of nutrition for a long period of time.
The Five Principles to a Successful Nutrition Plan
1. Adequacy – The amount of food you eat should match your activity level during the day.
2. Balance – Avoid only eating one particular type of food. Aim for a balance across the different food groups.
3. Nutrient Density – Consume more foods that are nutrient-dense, while decreasing your consumption of high energy-dense, low nutrient-dense foods.
4. Moderation – Moderating your portion sizes will help you to manage your weight better as well as reducing your consumption of foods high in sugar and fat.
5. Variety – Variety is the spice of life, the same motto goes for weight loss! Don’t get stuck eating the same meals or your weight-loss journey will suddenly seem much harder, and more boring.
14 Eat These Foods
The first rule is to simply eat real, whole foods that were grown from the ground or a tree. Processed foods (any food that comes in a box) is often low in nutrition, fibre, and high in sugar, salt, additives and preservatives. They don’t fill you up and lead to more cravings and overeating! What’s more, don’t fall for marketing gimmicks like
“low fat” and “made with whole grains”. They often mean very little and are pumped full of sugar.
Below are some examples of real, whole foods that are especially good for you during the weight loss journey.
15 Fruits and Vegetables
1. Avocado
When compared to other fruits like apples, avocados have a very low sugar content which is great news for insulin levels. One thing they are rich in is mono unsaturated fat which is proven to give you an energy boost and keep your metabolism going (14) making it a great pre-workout snack!
One study even found that people who eat half a fresh avocado decreased their desire to eat by 40 percent for a few hours following it (13). They would certainly make a great breakfast.
16 2. Berries
Eating berries is an excellent way to satisfy your sweet tooth without feeling guilty,
and in comparison to most other fruits, berries have a relatively low calorie and sugar
content (16). In general, fruit is a good source of dietary fiber when eaten whole, leaving you feeling satiated and slowing down sugar absorption (17).
If you’re not sure how to get more berries into your diet, eat them as a snack, or add them to smoothies or stirred through your morning oatmeal.
3. Apples and Pears
Pears and apples are two of only a handful of fruits that have low calories and high
fiber. Since they are a rich source of dietary fiber, apples and pears will make you feel full without eating too much. Just be sure to eat the whole fruit, as juice alone lacks the necessary dietary fiber needed to digest and process the sugars properly!
4. Grapefruit
Grapefruit is your new best friend when it comes to burning belly fat. It stimulates the production of cholecystokinin, a known hunger suppressant (18). Additionally, grapefruit lowers insulin levels of the body, which prevents our body from storing fat
(19).
Again, you should always aim to eat the whole fruit as the flesh stores most of the nutrients and contains the fiber you need to digest the fruit’s sugars properly.
5. Sweet Potato
Sweet potato’s inherent natural sweetness makes it a very appealing ingredient for a range of recipes. It is a rich source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients
17 that benefit our eyesight, heart and digestive system.
Compared to its close relative the potato, sweet potato has a lower Glycemic Index which measures how fast it releases sugar into the bloodstream (20), so it makes a great substitute! It’s another food that’s rich in dietary fiber steadying the pace of digestion and giving enough time for the starches to be converted into simple sugars in the digestive tract (21).
6. Chili Peppers
Chili peppers have one particular ingredient that suppresses appetite and burns fat – capsaicin (29). Capsaicin is responsible for that burning sensation in our mouth when we eat chili, but it also burns fat through a process called thermogenesis (literally converting food into heat) for over 20 minutes after we eat it (30).
18 7. Leafy Greens
Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, and romaine lettuce are known for their rich nutrient and fiber content while being low in carbohydrates and calories. Leafy greens are one of the healthiest foods you can add to your diet because of their low energy density (low calories), meaning you can eat more without much risk of gaining weight, plus they help you feel fuller for longer (31).
8. Cruciferous Vegetables
Some of the notable characters in this group are arugula, broccoli, Bok choy, collard greens, kale, daikon radish, watercress, radish, turnip, and mustard greens.
This vegetable family is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid (a crucial nutrient for pregnant women), carotenoids, and fiber, while also being low in calories and fat.
Per one hundred calories you consume, you’ll get around 25 to 40 percent of your daily dietary fiber requirement (32), this not only helps with weight loss but also aids in improving our digestive health.
19 Beans and Legumes
Beans and legumes are rare in that they combine high protein and fiber without the saturated fat. This is what makes them ideal for moderating or losing weight because protein and fiber go through the digestive system at a slower pace, leaving you feeling fuller for longer, as well as helping to move along any foods that might be stuck in your gastrointestinal tract.
The slower pace also helps regulate blood sugar balance, and beans lead to a production of a hormone known to be an appetite suppressant (15).
20 Meat and Fish
1. Lean grass-fed beef and organic chicken
Adding lean (keyword) beef to your diet is one way to help you lose weight because of its protein content. Studies have shown that by simply adding protein to your diet, cravings can be reduced by up to 60 percent (33).
Chicken breast is another fantastic source of protein which makes it a staple of a lot of weight loss diets. You should aim to grill meat wherever possible as frying it will add to the calorie content.
2. Wild-caught salmon
Salmon is a rich source of nutrients that indirectly help in regulating weight. This nutrient-dense fish is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which boost brain function and contribute to improving mood. Omega-3 also helps reduce inflammation and aids digestion - better digestion means better weight regulation, reducing your chances of obesity and metabolic disease (34, 35).
New studies have also shown that salmon contains proteins and amino acids that affect insulin effectiveness and the inflammation of the digestive tract (36).
21 Additional Ingredients
1. Apple Cider Vinegar
If you love your salads, instead of using fatty or creamy dressings which can make an otherwise healthy dish pretty unhealthy, try using an apple cider vinegar based vinaigrette instead. Alternatively, you could drink it by diluting it in water.
Apple cider vinegar is rich in acetic acid, which in one study was found to suppress body fat accumulation (37) and, in others, linked to improving insulin sensitivity in people who have type-2 diabetes (38).
2. Plain Greek Yogurt
This is a healthier alternative to traditional yogurt because it has less sodium, sugar, and carbohydrates, but also has a little bit more protein (39). Yogurt, in general, is also a rich source of probiotics, a major factor in our digestive health, keeping bad bacteria in check. You can read more about the role of probiotics in weight management in the supplements chapter of this eBook.