How to Shrink Fat Cells and Lose Weight

Is there a way to effectively shrink belly fat cells?

There are many products on the market, such as fat burn cream for weight loss, and diet plans trying to make a promise to help lose belly fat, but not necessary works.

In this article, we are going to reveal the methods that have worked wonders for hundreds of people worldwide pursuing losing fat.

Does it sound too good to be true?  Well, read on.

First of all, we need to have a little more understanding of what body fat is. When you lose body fat, the fat cell (a more official name of it is adipocyte) does not disappear; neither does it get burned.

The fat cell itself simply stays right where it is, under the skin in your thighs, stomach, hips, arms, etc., and on top of the muscles.  That is the reason why you can't see muscle showing when your body fat covers it.

Fat is stored inside fat cells in the form of triacylglycerol.  It does not get burned in fat cells.  Fat must be liberated from the fat cell through a somewhat complex process of hormonal and enzymatic pathways.

When prompted to do so, the fat cell releases its contents (triacylglycerol) into the bloodstream as free fatty acids, and the free fatty acids are transported through the blood to the tissues where the energy is needed.

Free fatty acids are the major fat fuel in the body, and when they are elevated in the blood they are thought to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease by causing insulin resistance (in some cases leading to diabetes), raising blood pressure, and other effects.

It is well known that taking exercise induces changes in your body that can enhance the uptake of free fatty acids by the contracting muscles.  However, making consistent exercise takes effort and time, and therefore not everybody can do it consistently.  Thus, taking dietary supplements has become a popular alternative, because “fat burner” supplements are often claimed as an easy and fast option to increase fat oxidation at rest and during exercise. 

However, there seems to be not enough evidence to support the conclusion that using these supplements can effectively lose weight.  Do you want to effectively shrink fat cells so as to lose weight? We will discuss the things you can do to get slimmer

.

Have a Low-Carb Diet

Conducting low-carb diets is an effective way to shrink fat cells.  Let me tell you why.

Many studies have shown that low-carb diets are more effective at reducing fat than low-fat diets.  In an 8-week study of 69 overweight men and women, scientists found that people who followed a low-carb diet lost 10% more visceral fat and 4.4% more total fat than those on a low-fat diet.

Additionally, the keto diet, which is a type of very low-carb diet, may also help reduce visceral fat, as a study shows.  The interesting part is that you may actually eat more calories per day by doing so.

Increase Aerobic Exercise

We all know that regular exercising helps you lose weight, but regular aerobic exercise provides extra benefits to shed fat. It is commonly known as cardio, and it burns a lot of calories.

In fact, studies have shown that aerobic exercise can help you lose fat, even without the help of dieting.  For example, an analysis of 15 studies in 852 people compared how well different types of exercise reduced visceral fat without dieting.  They found that moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercises were most effective at reducing fat without dieting. 

Having said that, having regular aerobic exercise together with a healthy diet can certainly provide more effective results than simply doing one alone.

Start today to have brisk walking, jogging, or running at least two to three times per week.

Eat More Soluble Fiber

There are two kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble.

The soluble kind that mixes with water will form a viscous gel-like thing.  It helps slow down the delivery of digested food from the stomach to the intestines.

When soluble fiber reaches the colon, it is broken into short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are a major source of nutrition for colon cells. They may also help reduce visceral fat by suppressing your appetite.

For example, studies show that short-chain fatty acids help increase levels of fullness hormones,  they can also help reduce levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin A study found that simply increasing soluble fiber intake by 10 grams daily reduced the risk of visceral fat gain.

Therefore, you should increase your fiber intake.  There are many options, such as having more flaxseeds, sweet potatoes, legumes, and grains.  If you want to do it in an easier way,  you can try taking a soluble fiber supplement.

Limit Daily Sugar Intake

Research shows that rating patterns with fewer sources of added sugars help lower rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer in adults. Since many foods and beverages with added sugars also contribute extra calories, it contributes to becoming overweight and obese. 

Studies have also shown that people who eat more added sugar tend to have more visceral fat. Added sugar contains roughly 50% fructose, which is a simple sugar that is metabolized by the liver. When consuming In large amounts, fructose will get turned into fat by the liver. 

As a result, it is essential to eat less added sugar and fructose in the interest of losing fat.

The first step in reducing your intake of added sugars happens in the grocery store. Look carefully at the ingredient lists and Nutrition Facts Labels while you are shopping. Whenever possible, choose food that doesn't use added sugars. You can reduce sugar intake by simply eating more whole foods, such as fresh vegetables, fruits, lean meats, and fish.

Try using naturally sweet fruits and vegetables when baking and cooking. Examples include bananas, sweet potatoes, and apples. You can add fruit like berries or mashed banana to your cooked oatmeal in the morning for sweetness.

Doing these can help reduce sugar intake and at the same time losing body fat.

Limit Alcohol Intake

A small amount of alcohol intake, especially red wine, can have certain health benefits.

However, drinking too much alcohol has a great chance to harm both your health and waistline.

In fact, some studies have shown that drinking too much alcohol may encourage fat to be stored as visceral fat.

Although It is not entirely clear whether alcohol consumption is a risk factor for weight gain whether the correlation is positive, negative, or no association, at least when considering beer, there is a positive association. It is more likely to be for abdominal obesity (abdominal fat around the stomach) than for general obesity for men and women.

In sum, drinking alcohol, particularly in excessive amounts, has many other serious health risks beyond gaining weight. The risks include high blood pressure, increased triglycerides, heart disease and stroke, liver disease, and some cancers. So it's important to monitor your alcohol consumption as part of a healthy diet, including the consideration of weight management.

Avoid Trans Fat

If there’s one common agreement of a bad ingredient to avoid as much as possible, it is trans fats.

Trans fats are an artificial type of fat created by pumping hydrogen into vegetable oils. The purpose of trans fats is to keep food not spoiled quickly and have a longer shelf life. This is why they are added to processed foods, such as baked goods and potato chips.

However, studies have shown that trans fats can increase visceral fat and may cause numerous health problems.

Plan your diet to avoid trans fats. To begin with, check all nutrition fact labels for trans fats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires manufacturers to list it. However, a listing of 0 grams per serving still may not tell the whole story. 

If the product contains less than 0.5 grams per serving, it can be listed as 0 grams of trans fat. As it is, you should also look into other things.  For example, the words “hydrogenated oil” or “partially hydrogenated oil” also refer to trans fats.

Trans fats are incredibly bad for your health and linked to gaining fat. Try limiting your intake of foods that contain trans fats.

Eat More Protein

Protein may be the most important nutrient in losing fat.

Eating more protein can help fend off hunger by increasing levels of the fullness hormones. It can also help reduce levels of the hunger hormone.

Studies have shown that protein can help boost your metabolism as well, which can naturally help weight loss and shrink fat cells. 

The allegation that a high-protein diet can help you lose weight might seem a little counterintuitive, especially when many high-protein foods seem to have more calories than many high-carb foods, like fruits and veggies.

But there are good reasons. High-protein foods take more work to digest, metabolize, and use, which means you burn more calories processing them. They also take longer to leave your stomach, so you feel full sooner and for a longer amount of time, which reduces your chance to look for more food. The cumulative effect has obvious benefits for anyone who is watching their weight.

A study in 23,876 adults showed that a higher protein intake can lead to a lower body mass index, higher “good” HDL cholesterol, and a smaller waist circumference, which means less visceral fat.

Thus, you should have more protein. To increase eating protein, try adding a source of protein at each meal.  A few great sources include meat, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, and whey protein.

Have Sufficient Sleep

More than a third of American adults aren’t getting enough sleep.

Studies have shown that a lack of sleep may increase your risk of visceral fat gain.  Conversely, increasing your sleep may help reduce visceral fat.

A research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when people were seriously short of sleep, late-night snacking increased, and they were more likely to choose high-carb snacks to mentally compenstate for the sleep.

Another study found that sleeping too little prompts people to eat bigger portions of all foods, which leads to weight gain. And in a review of 18 studies, researchers found that a lack of sleep led to increased cravings for energy-dense, high-carbohydrate foods.

Lack of sleep makes your metabolism slows down, based on a research done by University of Chicago. Within just 4 days of insufficient sleep, your body’s ability to process insulin, a hormone needed to change sugar, starches, and other food into energy, goes awry. Insulin sensitivity dropped by more than 30%.

Here’s why that’s bad: When your body doesn't respond properly to insulin, your body has trouble processing fats from your bloodstream, so it ends up storing them as fat.

So it’s not so much that if you sleep, you’ll lose weight, but that too little sleep hampers your metabolism and contributes to weight gain.

If you don’t sleep enough, your body does not function well to lose weight.  A good night’s rest can do wonders for your health and help fight fat.

Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a popular way to lose weight.

It’s an eating pattern that involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting.

Unlike dieting, intermittent fasting does not restrict any foods. It simply focuses on when you should eat them.

Intermittent fasting shows promise for the treatment of obesity. To date, the studies have been small and of short duration. Longer-term research is needed to understand the sustainable role IF can play in weight loss.

Intermittent fasting is an eating strategy that may help you reduce visceral fat.

Reduce Your Stress Levels

Stress and anxiety are common problems that affect many people.  They can stimulate the body’s adrenal glands to produce more cortisol, which is a stress hormone.

Studies have shown that excess cortisol can increase visceral fat storage.  Moreover, ongoing stress can trigger overeating, which will worsen the fat storage

A few proven strategies to reduce stress include exercising more, trying yoga or meditation or just spending more time with friends and family.

Studies have shown that chronic stress is linked to visceral fat gain. It is good to try things like exercising, yoga, meditation to reduce stress.

Summary

There are many factors contributing to expansion of fat cells to let you gain weight. Fortunately, there are proven strategies you can follow to help reduce the size of fat cells.

You can pick one or more things you want to do such as eating fewer carbs, eating more fiber, and less sugar, doing more aerobic exercise, trying to reduce your stress, and increasing your protein intake.

By trying a few of the above strategies, you can lose weight, shrink fat cells and improve your health.