Visceral Fat: The Easiest Diet and Reduction Strategies

Ben Azadi’s “The World’s Easiest Diet For Visceral Fat Reduction In 14 Days” outlines a seven-step protocol to reduce harmful belly fat. The core principles involve lowering insulin through carbohydrate restriction and prioritizing protein and healthy fats. Additional recommendations include eliminating snacking, incorporating sprints and daily walking (especially post-meal), avoiding alcohol, practicing intermittent fasting with an 18/6 schedule, and optimizing for 90 minutes of deep sleep nightly. The text also addresses the role of stress and protein intake in fat loss and details methods for measuring visceral fat, emphasizing MRI scans for visualization. Ultimately, the source provides actionable lifestyle changes for rapid visceral fat reduction and improved metabolic health.

The World’s Easiest Diet For Visceral Fat Reduction: A Study Guide

Quiz

  1. What is visceral fat and why is it considered dangerous?
  2. According to the source, which macronutrient has the most significant impact on insulin levels? Explain why this is relevant to visceral fat storage.
  3. Describe the first step of the recommended protocol for reducing visceral fat. Provide a few examples of foods to avoid and foods to include.
  4. Why is snacking discouraged in this dietary approach? Explain the analogy used to illustrate this point.
  5. What is the suggested protocol for sprinting, and how does this type of exercise help in reducing visceral fat?
  6. Explain why alcohol consumption is discouraged for those trying to lose visceral fat, according to the source.
  7. How does walking, especially after meals, contribute to visceral fat reduction? Briefly describe the study mentioned to support this.
  8. Outline the 18:6 intermittent fasting schedule recommended in the source and explain the proposed benefits for visceral fat loss.
  9. Why is deep sleep considered important for burning visceral fat? List three scientifically proven tips provided to improve deep sleep.
  10. According to the interview with JJ Virgin, why is prioritizing protein intake beneficial for reducing body fat, including visceral fat?

Answer Key

  1. Visceral fat is the fat stored around the abdominal organs, often referred to as belly fat. It is dangerous because it applies pressure to vital organs like the heart, kidneys, liver, and pancreas, contributing to chronic diseases such as fatty liver disease, obesity, cancer, and heart disease.
  2. Carbohydrates have the most significant impact on insulin levels. When carbohydrates are consumed, they cause the highest blood insulin response compared to protein (moderate response) and fat (minimal impact). Elevated insulin is the primary hormone that signals the body to store visceral fat.
  3. The first step is to lower the hormone insulin by swapping carbohydrates for protein and fat. Foods to avoid include oats, oatmeal, cereal, bread, grains, fruit, fruit juices, quinoa, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and legumes. Foods to include are cauliflower rice, squash rice, cabbage rice, eggs, red meat, wild-caught salmon, poultry, and goat/sheep dairy.
  4. Snacking raises glucose and subsequently insulin levels, even if the snacks are considered healthy. This disrupts the metabolism and prevents the body from burning stored visceral fat. The analogy used compares snacking every few hours to someone constantly banging on your office door, disrupting your productive workflow.
  5. The sprinting protocol involves a 20-second all-out effort sprint followed by 90 seconds of rest, repeated for three total rounds, three times per week. High-intensity interval training like sprinting activates hormones such as human growth hormone, making the metabolism more efficient at using stored fat for energy after glycogen stores are depleted.
  6. Alcohol is considered a poison and a toxin that the liver prioritizes metabolizing before fat. This slows down fat burning. Additionally, alcohol stimulates appetite, decreases testosterone levels (which can hinder fat loss), and can increase estrogen levels (linked to abdominal fat storage).
  7. Walking after meals helps to blunt the spike in blood sugar that occurs after eating, even with a lower carbohydrate intake. This results in less insulin being produced, allowing the body to enter a fat-burning state faster. A study showed that a 30-minute brisk walk after meals improved the glycemic response regardless of the meal’s macronutrient composition.
  8. The 18:6 intermittent fasting schedule involves fasting for 18 hours a day and having a 6-hour eating window (e.g., 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.). This schedule is proposed to lower insulin levels, increase human growth hormone, reduce insulin resistance, boost metabolism, and promote overall hormonal balance, all of which can contribute to visceral fat loss.
  9. Deep sleep is where most fat-burning hormones are activated, and the body taps into stored fat for energy. Three tips for better deep sleep are drinking banana tea, keeping the bedroom cold (around 65°F), and ensuring the bedroom is completely dark (using blackout curtains or a sleep mask).
  10. Prioritizing protein intake is beneficial because protein is more metabolically costly to digest and assimilate compared to fats and carbohydrates (having a higher thermic effect). Eating protein first can also lead to feeling fuller for longer, reducing overall calorie intake and cravings, which are crucial for achieving a caloric deficit needed for fat loss.

Essay Format Questions

  1. Discuss the interconnectedness of diet and hormones, specifically focusing on the role of insulin and cortisol in visceral fat storage and reduction as described in the source.
  2. Critically evaluate the seven-step protocol presented for visceral fat reduction. Which steps do you find most compelling and why? Are there any potential challenges or limitations to following this plan for the average individual?
  3. Compare and contrast the different types of exercise discussed in the source (sprinting and walking) in terms of their mechanisms for promoting visceral fat loss and their practical implications for implementation.
  4. Analyze the importance of lifestyle factors beyond diet and exercise, such as sleep and stress management, in the context of the source’s recommendations for reducing visceral fat.
  5. Based on the information provided, synthesize a comprehensive strategy for an individual aiming to significantly reduce their visceral fat within a few months. Include specific dietary changes, exercise recommendations, and lifestyle adjustments.

Glossary of Key Terms

  • Visceral Fat: Body fat that is stored within the abdominal cavity and surrounds vital organs such as the liver, intestines, and stomach.
  • Insulin: A hormone produced by the pancreas that regulates blood sugar levels. It also signals the body to store excess glucose as fat.
  • Cortisol: A steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Chronically elevated levels can contribute to increased visceral fat storage.
  • Macronutrients: The three main categories of nutrients that the body needs in large amounts: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
  • Glycogen: The stored form of glucose, primarily in the liver and muscles, which the body can use for energy.
  • High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): A form of exercise that involves short bursts of intense activity followed by periods of rest or low-intensity activity.
  • Postprandial: Occurring after a meal.
  • Glycemic Response: The effect that carbohydrates in food have on blood sugar levels.
  • Intermittent Fasting: An eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and voluntary fasting on a regular schedule.
  • Autophagy: A natural cellular “clean-up” process where the body removes damaged or unnecessary components.
  • Human Growth Hormone (HGH): A hormone produced by the pituitary gland that plays a role in growth, metabolism, and fat burning.
  • Insulin Resistance: A condition in which the body’s cells become less responsive to insulin, leading to higher blood sugar levels.
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases: Conditions that progressively damage or kill nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
  • Leptin: A hormone produced by fat cells that helps regulate appetite and energy balance, often referred to as the satiety hormone.
  • Satiety: The feeling of fullness and satisfaction after eating.
  • Deep Sleep (Delta Sleep): A stage of sleep characterized by slow brain wave activity, during which the body repairs tissues, builds bone and muscle, and releases important hormones for fat burning.
  • Nitric Oxide: A molecule that helps blood vessels relax and widen, improving blood flow.
  • Vaso Dilation: The widening of blood vessels.
  • Oxytocin: A hormone often associated with bonding and social interaction, which can help lower cortisol levels.
  • Thermogenic Effect (or Thermic Effect of Food): The energy expenditure of the body above basal metabolic rate due to the cost of processing food for use and storage. Protein has a higher thermic effect than fats or carbohydrates.
  • DEXA Scan (Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry): A type of medical imaging scan that uses low levels of X-rays to measure bone density and body composition, including fat mass.
  • MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): A medical imaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of the organs and tissues in the body, allowing for the visualization of visceral fat.
  • CT Scan (Computed Tomography Scan): A medical imaging technique that uses X-rays and computer processing to create cross-sectional images of the body, which can also be used to assess visceral fat, though it involves radiation exposure.
  • Myosteatosis: The infiltration of fat into skeletal muscle tissue.

Briefing Document: The World’s Easiest Diet For Visceral Fat Reduction

Source: Excerpts from “01.pdf” by Ben Azadi

Date: October 26, 2023 (Based on the provided context)

Author/Presenter: Ben Azadi (Keto Kamp)

Main Theme: This document outlines a 7-step protocol presented by Ben Azadi for effectively reducing visceral fat (the dangerous belly fat surrounding organs) in less than 14 days. The protocol focuses on dietary changes, lifestyle adjustments, and exercise to lower insulin levels, activate fat-burning hormones, and improve overall metabolic health. Azadi supports his claims with his personal transformation story and insights from health experts and research.

Key Ideas and Facts:

1. Lower Insulin Levels Through Dietary Changes:

  • Visceral fat storage is primarily driven by the hormone insulin. “when this hormone insulin is elevated a ton of visceral fat gets stored around your belly.”
  • Carbohydrates cause the highest insulin spike compared to protein (moderate) and fat (minimal). “when you eat carbohydrates you can see it creates the highest blood insulin response protein is number two but it’s a moderate insulin response and fat barely touches the dial on insulin.”
  • The first step is to swap carbohydrates for protein and fat to lower insulin and enable fat burning. “the first step here in your protocol is to swap carbohydrates for protein and fat.”
  • Common “healthy” foods like açai bowls (99g sugar), Lucky Charms (60g sugar in two servings), oatmeal (52g sugar in two servings), and orange juice (52g sugar in two cups) are high in sugar and cause significant insulin spikes.
  • Foods to remove include oats, oatmeal, all cereals, bread, grains, fruit and fruit juices, quinoa, white and brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and all legumes.
  • Foods to replace them with include cauliflower rice, squash rice, cabbage rice, eggs (whole), red meat (beef, lamb), wild-caught salmon, organic poultry (chicken, turkey), goat and sheep dairy (preferred over cow dairy due to higher MCT content), and greens (arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower).
  • Aim for under 50 grams of total carbohydrates per day to facilitate the metabolic switch to fat burning.

2. Stop Snacking Between Meals:

  • Every time you snack, you raise glucose and insulin levels, hindering fat burning. “every time you snack you raise glucose and then insulin even if it’s a healthy snack.”
  • The average American eats 17 to 23 times per day due to grazing.
  • Snacking disrupts the metabolic “fat-burning workflow.”
  • The recommendation is to start with three meals a day and gradually work towards intermittent fasting.

3. Incorporate Sprints (High-Intensity Interval Training):

  • Sprinting is the “best exercise you can do to blast melt visceral fat.”
  • HIIT activates hormones like human growth hormone, making metabolism more efficient at using stored fat for energy.
  • Protocol: 20-second all-out sprint followed by 90 seconds of rest, repeated for three total rounds, three times per week (5-7 minutes total).

4. Eliminate or Limit Alcohol Consumption:

  • Alcohol is a “poison” and a toxin that the liver prioritizes metabolizing over fat burning.
  • Alcohol slows fat burning and can stimulate appetite, decrease testosterone, and increase estrogen levels (especially beer, linked to “beer belly”).
  • Recommendation: No alcohol. Opt for unsweetened mocktails or sparkling water with lemon.

5. Increase Daily Walking, Especially After Meals:

  • Aim for at least 7,000 steps daily, with 10,000 being even better.
  • Walking after meals helps to blunt blood sugar spikes and reduces the amount of insulin needed. “by going for a walk you blunt this big spike in blood sugars and you allow less insulin to become produced meaning you get into a fat burning State faster.”
  • A study showed that a 30-minute brisk walk after meals improved the glycemic response, even after high-carbohydrate meals. “although higher glucose levels were observed with High carbohydrate meal our finding show that a 30 minute post prandial meaning after eating brisk walk session improves the glycemic response after meals huge.”
  • Mike Mutzel, a fat loss expert, recommends breaking walks into “exercise snacks” of 2,500-3,000 steps interspersed throughout the day, which is more effective than one long walk.
  • Research suggests that walking at least 8,000 steps per day helps prevent metabolic deterioration and improves fat utilization. A low step count (around 2,600) resulted in an exaggerated post-meal triglyceride level and a 30% reduction in fat oxidation compared to a high step count (around 8,500).
  • Walking after a high-carb meal can significantly reduce glucose levels. Mike Mutzel experienced his glucose dropping from 185 to 85 mg/dL after a one-mile walk following a high-carb vegan meal.
  • Walking stimulates muscles to absorb glucose, reducing the need for excessive insulin.
  • Blue Zone research suggests that movement and recreational activity play a significant role in longevity, alongside diet.

6. Practice Intermittent Fasting (18/6 Schedule):

  • Intermittent fasting offers numerous benefits, including protection against neurodegenerative diseases (via autophagy), lowered insulin levels, increased human growth hormone (key for fat burning), reduced insulin resistance and blood sugar, reduced heart disease risk and blood pressure, boosted metabolism, potential lifespan extension, reduced inflammation, and improved hormone levels (leptin, testosterone).
  • The recommended schedule is an 18/6, meaning an 18-hour fasted state (water, electrolytes, supplements, coffee, tea only) and a 6-hour eating window (e.g., 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM) with 2-3 meals.

7. Aim for 90 Minutes of Deep Sleep:

  • Deep sleep (Delta sleep) is when you burn fat and visceral fat, and fat-burning hormones are activated.
  • Track deep sleep using devices like Oura Ring, Apple Watch, or Fitbit.
  • Scientifically proven tips for more deep sleep:
  • Drink banana tea (boiled banana with peel).
  • Keep the bedroom cold (around 65°F).
  • Ensure the bedroom is dark (blackout curtains or sleep mask).
  • Practice mouth taping to encourage nasal breathing and increase nitric oxide.
  • Take 400-600 mg of magnesium.

Questions and Answers:

  • Role of Stress (Cortisol): Cortisol works with insulin to store visceral fat. Chronic high cortisol levels lead to a “cortisol belly.” Managing stress (mental, emotional, physical, chemical) is crucial. Increasing oxytocin (through hugging, laughter, hobbies, gratitude – “vitamin G”) helps lower cortisol.
  • Protein Intake: Focus on protein intake (ideally 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of ideal body weight) for satiety, increased metabolic cost of digestion, and to support lean muscle mass. JJ Virgin emphasizes eating protein first at meals.
  • Measuring Visceral Fat:Indirect: Fasting insulin blood test (levels over 10 suggest insulin resistance and visceral fat storage).
  • Most Accurate: MRI scan of the abdomen. CT scans can also show visceral fat but involve radiation. Dexa scans quantify but don’t visualize visceral fat effectively.
  • Dr. Shan Omar, a visceral fat expert, emphasizes the visual impact of seeing visceral fat on an MRI as a powerful motivator for change. He notes that radiologists typically don’t report on visceral fat. Fatty infiltration in skeletal muscle often correlates with high visceral fat. Re-testing frequency depends on individual levels and goals, ranging from 3-12 months. Cost of MRI can vary significantly.

Quotes:

  • “visceral fat is the nasty belly fat around your stomach”
  • “insulin is the hormone that tells your body to pack on the visceral fat it’s the only hormone in your body that stores fat”
  • “when insulin is high from eating carbohydrates you’re your fat burning hormones they go and they hide they cannot coexist with insulin”
  • “sprinting is the best exercise you can do to blast melt visceral fat”
  • “alcohol is a poison to your body it’s a toxin to your brain”
  • “walking actually helps you uh trigger the the autophagy mechanisms that are some of the health benefits linked with fasting” (Quote from Mike Mutzel)
  • “Deep sleep right here this is where you burn fat this is where you burn visceral fat this is where most of your fat burning hormones are activated”
  • “gratitude is strength training for your soul” (Ben Azadi)
  • “eat protein first because I have been at too many dinners and heard too many times from women that they get too full to eat their protein” (Quote from JJ Virgin)
  • “MRI is the best way uh to do that and uh it’s uh when when people visualize it I get lots of colorful language the f bomb is dropped all the time” (Quote from Dr. Shan Omar)

Next Steps (Implied):

  • Follow the 7-step protocol.
  • Consider checking fasting insulin levels.
  • If motivated, explore getting an MRI scan to visualize visceral fat.
  • Check out the Keto Kamp recipes and other resources mentioned.
  • Watch the recommended video on “10 foods that put you in a fat burning State.”

This briefing document summarizes the core principles and actionable steps presented in Ben Azadi’s guide to reducing visceral fat. The emphasis is on understanding the role of insulin, making strategic dietary changes, incorporating specific types of exercise, prioritizing sleep, and managing stress to achieve rapid fat loss and improved metabolic health.

Visceral Fat: Reduction Through Diet and Lifestyle

Frequently Asked Questions About Visceral Fat Reduction

1. What is visceral fat and why is it dangerous? Visceral fat is the fat stored around your abdominal organs, often referred to as belly fat. It’s different from subcutaneous fat, which lies just beneath the skin. Visceral fat is particularly dangerous because it’s metabolically active, meaning it releases hormones and inflammatory substances that can contribute to chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, obesity, and even certain types of cancer. It puts pressure on vital organs like the heart, kidneys, liver, and pancreas, hindering their proper function.

2. What is the “easiest diet” to reduce visceral fat quickly? The core principle of this diet focuses on lowering the hormone insulin, which is the primary hormone responsible for fat storage, especially visceral fat. The easiest approach involves swapping high-carbohydrate foods for protein and healthy fats. Carbohydrates cause the most significant spike in insulin, followed by protein (a moderate response), while fat has a minimal impact. Therefore, to promote fat burning, especially visceral fat, it’s recommended to drastically reduce or eliminate foods like oats and oatmeal, all cereals, bread and grains, fruit and fruit juices, quinoa, white and brown rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and all legumes. Instead, focus on consuming non-starchy vegetables (like cauliflower rice, squash rice, and cabbage rice), whole eggs, red meat (beef and lamb), wild-caught salmon, organic poultry (chicken and turkey), and goat or sheep dairy (or raw, organic, grass-fed cow dairy in moderation). Aim to keep total carbohydrate intake under 50 grams per day to facilitate a metabolic shift towards fat burning.

3. Besides diet, what other lifestyle changes are crucial for blasting visceral fat? Several lifestyle modifications complement dietary changes for effective visceral fat reduction: * Stop Snacking: Frequent snacking, even on healthy foods, elevates glucose and insulin levels, hindering fat burning. Aim for three main meals a day initially and consider progressing to intermittent fasting. * Implement Sprints: High-intensity interval training like sprinting (20 seconds of all-out effort followed by 90 seconds of rest, repeated for 3 rounds, 3 times per week) is highly effective in activating fat-burning hormones like human growth hormone and depleting glycogen stores, forcing the body to utilize stored fat. * Eliminate or Limit Alcohol: Alcohol is a toxin that the liver prioritizes metabolizing, thus slowing down fat burning. It also stimulates appetite, decreases testosterone (important for fat loss), and can increase estrogen levels (linked to abdominal fat). * Increase Daily Walking: Aim for at least 7,000, ideally 10,000 steps per day. Post-meal walks, even for 30 minutes, are particularly beneficial in blunting blood sugar spikes and reducing the need for excessive insulin production. Breaking up walks into 2,500-3,000 step sessions throughout the day can be more effective than one long walk. * Practice Intermittent Fasting (18/6 Schedule): Fasting for 18 hours daily with a 6-hour eating window (e.g., eating between 12 pm and 6 pm) can protect against neurodegenerative diseases, reduce insulin resistance, lower blood sugar and blood pressure, boost metabolism, extend lifespan, reduce inflammation, and optimize hormones like human growth hormone, leptin, and testosterone, all contributing to visceral fat loss. * Prioritize Deep Sleep (90 Minutes): Deep sleep is crucial for fat burning and the activation of fat-burning hormones. Tips to improve deep sleep include drinking banana tea, keeping the bedroom cool (around 65°F) and dark, using mouth tape to encourage nasal breathing, and taking 400-600mg of magnesium.

4. How does stress impact visceral fat accumulation? Stress plays a significant role in visceral fat storage. While insulin is the primary fat-storing hormone, cortisol, the stress hormone, works in conjunction with it. Chronically elevated cortisol levels can lead to increased visceral fat storage, often referred to as a “cortisol belly.” Managing stress through adequate sleep, addressing mental, emotional, physical, and chemical stressors, and increasing oxytocin (the “love hormone”) through actions like hugging, laughing, engaging in hobbies, and practicing gratitude can help combat cortisol and reduce visceral fat.

5. How much protein is recommended to help burn visceral fat? Protein is crucial for fat loss due to its high thermic effect (the energy required to digest and assimilate it), its ability to promote satiety (keeping you feeling full longer), and its role in preserving lean muscle mass during a caloric deficit. A general recommendation is to aim for 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your ideal body weight. Prioritizing protein intake, especially eating it before other macronutrients, can help manage hunger and cravings, supporting overall calorie control and visceral fat reduction.

6. What are the ways to measure visceral fat? There are both indirect and direct methods to measure visceral fat. * Indirect Method: A fasting insulin blood test can indicate insulin resistance. A fasting insulin level over 10 suggests insulin resistance and likely the presence of excess visceral fat. This is a relatively inexpensive test that can be requested from your doctor. * Direct Methods: The most accurate ways to visualize and quantify visceral fat are through imaging techniques like DEXA scans, CT scans, and MRI scans. While DEXA scans provide a number representing visceral fat, they don’t offer a visual representation. CT scans and MRI scans provide images that clearly show visceral fat (appearing as white on the scans). MRI scans are considered superior due to their higher resolution and lack of radiation. However, it’s important to note that visceral fat is often not routinely reported by radiologists. Visualizing the visceral fat on an MRI or CT scan can have a strong emotional impact, motivating individuals to make necessary lifestyle changes. Software exists that can quantify visceral fat from these scans, though it’s not always necessary as the visual evidence can be powerful. Repeat testing can be done every 3 to 9 months to monitor progress. MRI scan costs can vary significantly by location, so it’s worth shopping around.

7. Can walking really help in losing stubborn belly fat? Yes, walking is a mandatory aspect of a healthy lifestyle and significantly aids in reducing stubborn belly fat. Aiming for around 9,000 steps per day is a good target, with benefits increasing up to 12,000 steps for disease prevention. Breaking up walks into multiple shorter sessions (2,500-3,000 steps each) throughout the day is more effective than one long session. Walking after meals is particularly beneficial for blunting post-meal glucose spikes, reducing the need for high insulin levels, and promoting fat burning. Research shows that even a brisk 15-20 minute walk after a higher-carb meal can significantly lower glucose levels. Furthermore, consistent walking improves the body’s ability to oxidize fat.

8. What is the connection between deep sleep and visceral fat loss? Deep sleep is a critical phase of sleep where the majority of fat-burning hormones are activated, allowing the body to tap into stored fat for energy, including visceral fat. Aiming for approximately 90 minutes of deep sleep each night can significantly accelerate visceral fat reduction. Strategies to enhance deep sleep, such as maintaining a cool and dark bedroom, practicing nasal breathing through mouth taping, and ensuring adequate magnesium intake, can optimize this fat-burning process during sleep.

Burning Visceral Fat: A Seven-Step Protocol

Visceral fat is described as the nasty belly fat around your stomach. It’s problematic because it applies pressure to vital organs like your heart, kidneys, liver, and pancreas, potentially leading to chronic diseases such as fatty liver disease, obesity, cancer, and heart disease.

According to Ben Azadi, the easiest diet to follow to reduce visceral fat in less than 14 days involves a seven-step protocol.

Here are the seven steps for burning visceral fat outlined in the source:

  1. Lower Insulin: The primary hormone that signals fat storage, particularly visceral fat, is insulin. To lower insulin, the first step is to swap carbohydrates for protein and fat. Carbohydrates cause the highest insulin spike, followed by protein (moderate), while fat barely affects insulin levels.
  • It’s recommended to remove foods like oats and oatmeal, all cereals (even whole grain), bread, grains, fruit and fruit juices, quinoa, white and brown rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and all legumes. These foods can cause a significant glucose and insulin response. Fruit and fruit juices contain fructose and sometimes high fructose corn syrup, which can lead to fatty liver and visceral fat.
  • You should replace these with fat-burning, insulin-friendly foods such as cauliflower rice, squash rice, cabbage rice, whole eggs (with the yolk), red meat (beef and lamb), wild-caught salmon, organic poultry (chicken and turkey), and goat and sheep dairy (which contain more medium-chain triglycerides than cow dairy). Raw organic grass-fed cow dairy might be okay in moderation. Greens like arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower are also beneficial.
  • Ideally, aim to drop your total carbohydrates under 50 grams per day to facilitate a metabolic switch to fat burning.
  1. Stop Snacking: Snacking between meals raises glucose and insulin levels, even if it’s a healthy snack, disrupting your metabolism and preventing visceral fat burning. The average American eats 17 to 23 times per day due to grazing. You should aim for three meals a day initially and then work towards intermittent fasting.
  2. Sprints: Sprinting is considered the best exercise to blast visceral fat. High-intensity interval training like sprinting activates hormones such as human growth hormone, making your metabolism more efficient at using stored fat for energy. The protocol involves sprinting at an all-out effort for 20 seconds, followed by 90 seconds of rest, repeated for three total rounds, three times per week. This should only take about 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. No or Limit Alcohol: Alcohol is described as a poison and a toxin to the body that slows fat burning because the liver prioritizes metabolizing alcohol. Alcohol also stimulates appetite, decreases testosterone levels (which can last up to 24 hours), and can increase estrogen levels (especially beer), potentially contributing to an “estrogen belly”. It is recommended to avoid alcohol entirely or limit its consumption significantly.
  4. Walking: Getting at least 7,000 steps a day (ideally 10,000) is crucial. Walking after eating a meal is particularly beneficial because it blunts the spike in blood sugar and reduces the amount of insulin produced, allowing you to get into a fat-burning state faster. Studies show that a 30-minute brisk walk after meals improves the glycemic response. Interspersing walking throughout the day in exercise snacks (three or four 2,500-3,000 step sessions) can be more effective than one longer walk. Aiming for around 9,000 steps per day is a good target. Even a rigorous 15-20 minute walk after a high-carb meal can significantly reduce glucose levels.
  5. Intermittent Fasting: This has numerous benefits, including protecting against neurodegenerative diseases through autophagy, lowering insulin levels, increasing human growth hormone, reducing insulin resistance and blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of heart disease, boosting metabolism, extending lifespan, reducing inflammation, removing waste from cells, and helping with hormones like leptin and testosterone. The recommended schedule for visceral fat reduction is an 18/6 schedule, where you fast for 18 hours (consuming only water, electrolytes, supplements, coffee, or tea) and have a 6-hour eating window (e.g., 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) with 2 to 3 meals.
  6. 90 Minutes of Deep Sleep: Deep sleep is when you burn fat and visceral fat, and most fat-burning hormones are activated. Aiming for 90 minutes of deep sleep each night is recommended. Scientifically proven tips to improve deep sleep include drinking banana tea, keeping the bedroom cold (around 65°F), ensuring the bedroom is dark (using blackout curtains or a sleep mask), using mouth tape to encourage nasal breathing, and taking 400-600 mg of magnesium.

The source also addresses the role of stress and protein intake in visceral fat reduction:

  • Stress: While insulin is the primary hormone for visceral fat storage, cortisol (the stress hormone) works with insulin. Chronic high levels of cortisol can lead to a “cortisol belly” and fat storage. Managing stress through optimizing sleep, addressing mental, emotional, physical, and chemical stressors is important. Activities that produce oxytocin (like hugging, watching something funny, hobbies, and practicing gratitude – “vitamin G”) can help combat high cortisol levels.
  • Protein Intake: The focus should be on protein intake when reducing carbohydrates. Prioritizing protein intake and eating it first during meals is recommended because protein is more metabolically costly to digest and assimilate compared to carbs and fat (20-30% of protein calories are used in digestion). Protein also helps you feel fuller for longer and can help with cravings. A general recommendation is to aim for 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of your target or ideal body weight.

Regarding measuring visceral fat, the source provides the following information:

  • An indirect way to measure visceral fat is through a fasting insulin blood test. A result over 10 may indicate insulin resistance and visceral fat storage.
  • The most accurate way to test is with an MRI scan. CT scans can also visualize visceral fat but involve radiation. DEXA scans quantify visceral fat but don’t allow for visualization.
  • Visualizing visceral fat on an MRI scan can have a significant emotional impact, which can motivate individuals to make lifestyle changes. On an MRI, fat appears white, while muscle appears dark.
  • While software exists to quantify visceral fat numerically, visualizing the amount of visceral fat may be more impactful for individuals.
  • It’s important to understand that doctors do not routinely read visceral fat on MRI or CT scans. Dr. Anna C. Rosa is mentioned as one of the first radiologists to routinely do so.
  • If you’ve had a CT scan of your abdomen, you can review the images to see the amount of visceral fat.
  • Repeat testing with MRI can be done every 3 to 6 months to monitor progress. The cost and time involved with MRI scans can be limitations.

Insulin’s Role in Fat Storage and Reduction Strategies

Based on the sources and our conversation history, let’s discuss insulin hormone levels.

Insulin is the primary hormone in your body that signals fat storage, especially visceral fat. When insulin levels are elevated, a significant amount of fat is stored around your belly. This is a problem because this visceral fat puts pressure on vital organs and can contribute to chronic diseases like fatty liver disease, obesity, cancer, and heart disease.

The source highlights that carbohydrates cause the most significant spike in blood insulin when you eat them. Protein results in a moderate insulin response, while fat barely affects insulin levels. This is described as basic human physiology verified by medical textbooks.

When insulin levels are high due to carbohydrate consumption, your fat-burning hormones are suppressed and cannot function effectively. Insulin and fat burning essentially cannot coexist.

Therefore, the first step to burning visceral fat, according to Ben Azadi, is to lower insulin levels. This is primarily achieved by swapping carbohydrates for protein and fat in your diet. The source recommends avoiding foods that cause high insulin spikes, such as:

  • Oats and oatmeal
  • All cereals, including whole grain
  • Bread and grains
  • Fruit and fruit juices (due to fructose and potential high fructose corn syrup)
  • Quinoa, white and brown rice
  • Potatoes and sweet potatoes
  • All legumes (beans, peanuts, lentils, and chickpeas)

Instead, the source suggests replacing these with insulin-friendly, fat-burning foods like:

  • Cauliflower rice, squash rice, and cabbage rice
  • Whole eggs (with the yolk)
  • Red meat (beef and lamb)
  • Wild-caught salmon
  • Organic poultry (chicken and turkey)
  • Goat and sheep dairy (which have more medium-chain triglycerides than cow dairy)
  • Raw organic grass-fed cow dairy (potentially in moderation)
  • Greens like arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower

The goal is to drop total carbohydrate intake to under 50 grams per day to lower insulin sufficiently and trigger a metabolic switch to fat burning.

Beyond dietary changes, intermittent fasting is also presented as a method to lower insulin levels. During the fasting period, insulin levels naturally decrease, which is beneficial for burning visceral fat and has other health benefits like increased human growth hormone and reduced insulin resistance. The recommended schedule is an 18/6 fasting window.

Furthermore, walking after meals helps to blunt the spike in blood sugar, which in turn reduces the amount of insulin required to clear glucose from the bloodstream. This allows you to get into a fat-burning state more quickly.

The source also indirectly links stress and cortisol to insulin’s role in visceral fat storage. While insulin is the primary hormone, cortisol (the stress hormone) works with insulin to promote visceral fat accumulation. Managing stress can therefore have a positive impact on insulin regulation.

Finally, an indirect way to measure visceral fat is through a fasting insulin blood test. A fasting insulin level over 10 may indicate insulin resistance, which is often associated with higher levels of visceral fat.

Carbohydrates and Visceral Fat Reduction: A Protocol

Based on the sources and our conversation history, let’s discuss carbohydrate intake in relation to visceral fat reduction.

The source “01.pdf” emphasizes that carbohydrate intake plays a significant role in the accumulation of visceral fat. According to Ben Azadi, carbohydrates cause the highest blood insulin response compared to protein and fat. Elevated insulin levels are the primary driver of visceral fat storage around the belly.

Therefore, the first and most crucial step in the provided protocol for reducing visceral fat is to significantly lower carbohydrate intake. The rationale behind this is that by reducing carbohydrates, you can lower insulin levels, which in turn signals your body to stop storing visceral fat and instead start burning it. The source explicitly states that when insulin is high from eating carbohydrates, your fat-burning hormones are suppressed and cannot effectively do their job.

To lower insulin, the source recommends swapping carbohydrates for protein and fat in your diet. It provides a detailed list of foods that people often think are healthy but can actually contribute to visceral fat due to their high carbohydrate and sugar content:

  • Oats and oatmeal
  • All cereals, even whole grain varieties
  • Bread and grains
  • Fruit and fruit juices because they contain fructose and sometimes high fructose corn syrup, leading to a significant glucose and insulin spike and potentially causing fatty liver and visceral fat
  • Quinoa, white and brown rice
  • Potatoes and sweet potatoes
  • All legumes, including beans, peanuts, lentils, and chickpeas

Instead of these foods, the source suggests replacing them with fat-burning and insulin-friendly options:

  • Cauliflower rice, squash rice, and cabbage rice as alternatives to white or brown rice
  • Whole eggs (with the yolk)
  • Red meat like beef and lamb
  • Wild-caught salmon
  • Organic poultry like chicken and turkey
  • Goat and sheep dairy (which are noted as being potentially better than cow dairy due to a higher content of medium-chain triglycerides)
  • Raw organic grass-fed cow dairy (suggested as possibly okay in moderation)
  • Greens like arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower

The source provides a specific target for carbohydrate intake, recommending that you ideally drop your total carbohydrate consumption to under 50 grams per day. This level is suggested to be low enough to significantly lower insulin and facilitate a metabolic switch from burning glucose to burning fat, including visceral fat.

Our previous discussion on insulin hormone levels also highlighted the direct link between carbohydrate intake and insulin spikes [the previous turn]. We noted that carbohydrates have the most substantial impact on raising insulin levels compared to other macronutrients.

Furthermore, the source connects carbohydrate intake to other recommendations for visceral fat reduction. For example, walking after meals is particularly emphasized for its ability to blunt the post-meal glucose spike that occurs even with lower carbohydrate intake. This reduction in glucose also means less insulin needs to be released. Similarly, intermittent fasting helps lower overall insulin levels, which is partly achieved by restricting the time window during which carbohydrates (and other foods) are consumed.

In summary, the source posits that high carbohydrate intake is a primary driver of elevated insulin levels and subsequent visceral fat accumulation. To effectively reduce visceral fat, a significant reduction in carbohydrate intake to below 50 grams per day is recommended, along with the substitution of high-carbohydrate foods with protein and fat sources and insulin-friendly vegetables. Managing carbohydrate intake is presented as the foundational step upon which the other recommendations for visceral fat reduction are built.

Intermittent Fasting for Visceral Fat Reduction

Based on the sources and our conversation history, let’s discuss intermittent fasting as a strategy for visceral fat reduction.

The source “01.pdf” presents intermittent fasting as the sixth step in its seven-step protocol for burning belly fat. It is described as having many benefits.

How Intermittent Fasting Helps Burn Visceral Fat:

  • Lowers Insulin Levels: One of the primary ways intermittent fasting aids in visceral fat loss is by lowering insulin levels. As we discussed previously, elevated insulin is the main hormone that promotes the storage of visceral fat [1, our conversation history]. By abstaining from food for a significant period, insulin levels naturally decrease, which signals the body to start burning stored fat, including visceral fat.
  • Increases Human Growth Hormone (HGH): Fasting promotes a rise in human growth hormone. HGH is a key hormone that helps the body burn fat. The source mentions that studies suggest a significant increase in HGH hour after hour during a fast.
  • Promotes Autophagy: Intermittent fasting helps the body go through cellular cleaning processes called autophagy. Autophagy involves clearing out senescent (aged or damaged) cells.
  • Reduces Insulin Resistance and Lowers Blood Sugar: Fasting can help reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels. This is significant because insulin resistance is often linked to increased visceral fat storage.
  • Boosts Metabolism: Contrary to the misconception that fasting slows metabolism, the source states that it actually boosts metabolism.
  • Positively Impacts Other Hormones: Fasting can also help with hormones like leptin (the satiety hormone) and testosterone.

Recommended Intermittent Fasting Schedule:

The specific intermittent fasting schedule recommended in the source for burning visceral fat is the 18/6 schedule. This means:

  • 18 hours of fasting: During this time, no food is consumed. You can have water, electrolytes, supplements, coffee, and tea. Snacking is not allowed.
  • 6-hour eating window: This is the period during which you consume your meals. The example given is from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.. During this window, you would typically eat two to three meals.

The source emphasizes utilizing sleep as part of the fasted state by having an earlier dinner by 6:00 p.m..

Connection to Previous Discussions:

  • Insulin: Our previous discussions highlighted that lowering insulin is crucial for visceral fat reduction and that carbohydrates are the primary driver of insulin spikes [our conversation history]. Intermittent fasting is presented as another effective method, alongside dietary changes, to achieve and maintain lower insulin levels.
  • Carbohydrate Intake: While intermittent fasting focuses on when you eat, the source also recommends what you eat during your eating window, which aligns with our discussion on lowering carbohydrate intake to manage insulin [2, 10, our conversation history]. Combining a lower-carbohydrate diet during the eating window with intermittent fasting is implied as a powerful strategy.

In summary, the source “01.pdf” strongly advocates for intermittent fasting, specifically the 18/6 schedule, as a valuable tool for reducing visceral fat. Its benefits are attributed to its ability to lower insulin, increase HGH, promote autophagy, improve insulin sensitivity, boost metabolism, and positively influence other hormones. This recommendation aligns with the broader strategy of managing insulin levels discussed in the source and our previous conversations regarding the impact of carbohydrate intake on insulin.

Walking for Visceral Fat Reduction: Steps and Timing

Based on the sources and our conversation history, let’s discuss steps and walking in the context of visceral fat reduction.

Walking as Step Five in the Protocol:

The source “01.pdf” identifies getting at least 7,000 steps a day, with 10,000 steps being even better, as the fifth step in the protocol for burning visceral fat. It specifically highlights that walking after eating a meal is the most beneficial time to do this.

Benefits of Walking, Especially After Meals:

  • Blunting Blood Sugar Spikes: When you eat food, your blood sugar levels will rise, even with a lower carbohydrate intake. This prompts the pancreas to release insulin to clear the glucose from the bloodstream. The more metabolically unhealthy you are and the more visceral fat you have, the higher this blood sugar spike can be, requiring more insulin. Walking after a meal helps to blunt this spike in blood sugars, requiring less insulin to be produced, and allowing you to get into a fat-burning state faster.
  • Study Supporting Postprandial Walking: The source references a study titled “the effects of postprandial walking on the glucose response after meals with different characteristics” which demonstrated that a 30-minute brisk walk after meals improves the glycemic response, even after high-carbohydrate meals.
  • Expert Opinion from Mike Mutzel: The source includes an interview with fat loss expert Mike Mutzel, who emphasizes that walking is a mandatory aspect of a healthy lifestyle, regardless of diet or fasting programs. He cites research suggesting a threshold of around 9,000 steps per day for overall health benefits and around 12,000 steps for preventing various diseases. A significant meta-analysis involving 1.3 million people found that at least 8,600 steps per day can help avoid and reduce the risk of developing conditions like sleep apnea, depression, high blood pressure, and improve metabolic health, including reducing visceral fat.

“Exercise Snacks” – Breaking Up Walks:

Mike Mutzel suggests breaking up your daily walks into “exercise snacks” of three or four 2,500 to 3,000 step sessions interspersed throughout the day, rather than one long bout of exercise. He argues that this approach can be more effective than a single longer walk.

Research by Edward Coyle on Step Counts and Metabolic Health:

The source discusses research by Edward Coyle at UT Austin, who found that:

  • Individuals walking less than 8,000 steps per day had an exaggerated postmeal level of blood triglycerides after a standardized high-fat test meal, which is a strong indicator of poor metabolic health and fat utilization.
  • There was a 30% reduction in fat oxidation in the low step count group (around 2,600 steps) compared to the high step count group (around 8,500 steps).
  • Interestingly, a 60-minute Zone 2 exercise session did not significantly increase fat oxidation in the low step count group, suggesting that daily walking activity is crucial for maximizing the benefits of structured exercise.

Walking After “Cheat Meals”:

Mike Mutzel suggests that even if someone has a higher-carbohydrate meal (like a “cheat meal”), going for a rigorous walk for 15-20 minutes can literally cut their glucose levels almost in half. This further reinforces the benefit of postprandial movement in managing blood sugar and insulin.

Connection to Previous Discussions:

  • Insulin: As mentioned, walking, especially after meals, directly helps in managing blood glucose levels, thus reducing the insulin response. This aligns with our previous discussions about the importance of lowering insulin for visceral fat reduction [our conversation history].
  • Carbohydrate Intake: While lowering carbohydrate intake is the primary dietary recommendation, incorporating walking helps mitigate the glucose spike that can still occur even with a reduced carbohydrate load [4, 5, our conversation history]. The synergy between dietary changes and increased physical activity like walking is evident.

In summary, the source strongly advocates for regular walking, aiming for at least 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day, with a particular emphasis on walking after meals to help blunt blood sugar and insulin spikes. Breaking up the total step count into smaller “exercise snacks” throughout the day may be more effective than a single long walk. Research indicates that achieving a sufficient daily step count is crucial for healthy postmeal metabolic responses and fat oxidation. This recommendation complements the dietary and fasting strategies for visceral fat reduction by directly influencing glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.

The World’s Easiest Diet For Visceral Fat Reduction In 14 Days | Ben Azadi

The Original Text

visceral fat is the nasty belly fat around your stomach I’m going to share with you in this lesson the easiest diet to follow to blast melt visceral fat in less than 14 days how do I know this can be done well this is a photo of me when I was 2050 lb 34% body fat I had a ton of visceral fat and I applied what I’m about to teach you and here’s what happened to me I went from 250 lb as you can see on the screen here to 170 lb right here here 34% body fat to as low as 6% body fat I had a lot of visceral fat those are signs of visceral fat you can see the love handles here and you can see what happened as a result before and after so you’re about to get the same results that I did I know this works because this guy right here me when I was 24 years old I was struggling with a ton of fat obesity I had pre-diabetes and high blood pressure and I tried so many different approaches and it wasn’t until I followed this approach that I’m going to share with you these seven steps to burn this fat that’s what I achieved in a short amount of time and I’m going to lay it all out for you right now the first step to burning visceral fat is to lower a hormone called insulin when this hormone insulin is elevated a ton of visceral fat gets stored around your belly this is a problem because that visceral fat applies pressure to your heart your kidneys to your liver and your pancreas and it creates chronic disease fatty liver disease obesity cancer heart disease insulin is the hormone that tells your body to pack on the visceral fat it’s the only hormone in your body that stores fat that’s pretty interesting because there’s over 600 hormones in the body but only one signal fat storage in that hormone is primarily the hormone insulin now cortisol works with insulin to do that but it’s insulin that’s causing this visceral fat all right now let’s unpack out of the three macronutrients out there which one causes the most insulin Spike well the research is clear when you eat carbohydrates you can see it creates the highest blood insulin response protein is number two but it’s a moderate insulin response and fat barely touches the dial on insulin this is basic human physiology all the medical textbooks verify this so if we know that it’s carbohydrates that Spike insulin the most that means the first step here in your protocol is to swap carbohydrates for protein and fat when insulin is high from eating carbohydrates you’re your fat burning hormones they go and they hide they cannot coexist with insulin so just to give you an example what are the foods people eat that they think are healthy but actually are causing visceral fat I’m going to show you some crazy stats right here these are some stats from chronometer doccom keto camp where you could input your food and it gives you the amount of grams of carbs protein fat it gives you all the calculations all the nutrition I input that into the system and I’m going to give you an example of the common foods people eat they think are healthy he but it’s causing weight gain it’s causing visceral fat so this is an example of an assai Bowl One assai Bowl from Jamba Juice how many teaspoons of sugar in that 20 teaspoons of sugar which equates to 99 gam of sugar that’s a huge blood sugar and insulin response all right Lucky Charms I know most people don’t think Lucky Charms are healthy but hey let’s look at the stats here in two servings of lucky charm so two bowls we have 12 teaspoons of sugar 60 g of sugar then we have oatmeal okay a lot of people try to lose visceral fat and they’re eating oatmeal they think oatmeal helps them lose weight does oatmeal cause an insulin Spike how much sugar is an oatmeal in just two servings of oatmeal there is 52 gam of sugar not to mention all the glyphosate and contaminants that’s usually found in oatmeal that’s besides the fact here orange juice people drink orange juice thinking they’re getting their vitamin C two cups of orange juice 16 o is 52 g of sugar therefore what you’re going to want to do to start tapping into visceral fat by lowering insulin is to remove the following Foods we have oats and oatmeal you want to get rid of that cereal that goes for all cereal even whole grain cereal all bread grains fruit and fruit juices because fruit and fruit juices contain fructose and sometimes high fructose corn syrup huge glucose and Insulin Spike that causes fatty liver and visceral fat you want to avoid quinoa white and brown rice you want to avoid potatoes and sweet potatoes all legumes including beans peanuts lentil and chickpeas ideally you want to drop your total carbohydrates under 50 gam total per day to lower insulin enough to make a metabolic switch to Fat metabolism fat burning where your body starts burning that visceral fat this is the first step that I did to start burning my visc fat now the question is what do I eat Ben you’re taking all my favorite stuff away there’s some really good food you can eat here’s what you want to swap them with you want to replace those foods with the following fat burning insulin Friendly Foods we have cauliflower rice squash rice and cabbage rice that’s a good replacement for white rice or brown rice we have eggs the whole egg with the yolk it’s amazing for insulin resistance fat burning amazing for fatty liver disease we have red meat like beef and lamb wild CAU salmon is amazing with its anti-inflammatory properties it has EPA and DHA it lowers inflammation allows your fat burning hormones to do their job we have poultry organic poultry ideally chicken and turkey I put eggs on there twice I guess I did that subconsciously because I love eggs so much goat and sheep Dairy would be better than Cow Dairy if you do cowery raw organic grass-fed cowery should be okay but the reason I put goat and sheep Dairy on this list as opposed to Cow Dairy is because goat and sheep Dairy contain 30% medium chain triglycerides which actually helps you get into a fat burning State faster than Cow Dairy greens like arugula which is a great bidder for your liver to detoxify and burn fat broccoli brussels sprouts cauliflower this is a good list of fat burning foods now there’s a lot more and I put together a recipe called the keto camp recipe of the week and these are recipes you can get by scanning the screen right there I’ll get out of the way for you uh or going to keto Camp recipes.com I’ll drop a link down below but these recipes I’ve worked with the food journalist for six months to put together insulin friendly fat burning recipes protein focused healthy fats low carbs and it takes all the guest work out of it so you just follow the recipes you get one a week in your email inbox and it’s easy and quick to make and it tastes pretty good all right Second Step here in your protocol is to stop snacking in between your meals every time you snack you raise glucose and then insulin even if it’s a healthy snack and here’s a crazy stat my colleague Dr Don Clum did a patient population study and he found out that the average American eats 17 to 23 times per day how is that possible it’s the grazing the handful of almonds the sip of the kombucha the protein shake every time you eat if it’s a snack or a full-on meal it doesn’t matter it’s a meal to your body it’s going to disrupt your metabolism it’s going to prevent you from burning visceral fat the example I always give is like this example here let’s say you’re in your office at home and you’re in a flow State working very productive and every 2 to three hours somebody bangs on your door and disrupts your your workflow that’s what’s happening to your metabolism when you eat every 2 to three hours your spiking glucose and insulin and you’re disrupting your fat burning workflow so the first step here along the Second Step I should say along with the first step is to eliminate the snacks you’re going to start by just having three meals a day and you’re going to work your way up to intermittent fasting which will discuss how that helps you burn visceral fat in a second the third step to burning belly fat are Sprints sprinting is the best exercise you can do to blast melt visceral fat I’ll share with you the protocol and it’s pretty easy by the way it might seem too little but I got to tell you it works like a charm but let me explain how this works when you do high-intensity interval training a Sprint at an allout effort and then you rest and recover and repeat that a few times you activate hormones in your body that like human growth hormone and others that really allow your metabolism to get more efficient and use stored fat for energy it’s a very energy demanding activity Sprints and you’re going to allow your your body to burn through your sugar reserves called your glycogen stores and then make that metabolic switch to blasting stored fat visceral fat for energy so the protocol is very simple you do this three times per week you’re going to Sprint all out effort for 20 seconds either outside or on a treadmill you could also do it on a bicycle by the way if you have bad knees all out effort like a lion is chasing you for 20 seconds time yourself then you’re going to rest for 90 seconds total ideally you want to sit down maybe lie down for 90 seconds allow your body to go back into a parasympathetic State and then you do it again 20 second all out Sprint you can do that for three total rounds and you’re only going to do that three times per week maybe it’s Monday Wednesday and Friday they should only take about 5 to 7 minutes you might want to warm up beforehand but 5 to 7 minutes what a wonderful way and a fast easy way to burn belly fat so sprinting is the third step here the fourth way to burn visceral fat sorry to be the be bad news but this is no alcohol or limit alcohol but if you go no alcohol even better look before I get into these stats here alcohol is a poison to your body it’s a toxin to your brain even if it’s the cleanest alcohol in the world the most expensive alcohol every sip will kill brain cells inside of your body but it’s not just that as it relates to visceral fat your liver is a very important organ not just for detoxification but for fat loss and when you have alcohol your liver and your metabolism needs to metabolize and prioritize getting rid of that toxin the alcohol before anything else before fat burning before any other detoxification processes so you slow fat burning and another reason why is alcohol stimulates appetite and decreases testosterone levels for up to 24 hours so you’re probably going to eat more carbohydrates eat unhealthy you’re going to have lower levels of testosterone and it can increase estrogen levels especially beer by 300% this is why they call it an Infamous beer belly it’s really just an estrogen belly biochemically the higher your levels of estrogen are the more readily you absorb alcohol and the slower you break it down it becomes a vicious cycle so have a mocktail that’s not sweetened have sparkling water this is what I do sparkling water with a Sprinkle of lemon sometimes I’ll put some drops of stevia monk fruit but no alcohol if you’re serious about burning visceral fat okay the fifth step here in your protocol is walking getting at least 7,000 steps a day 10,000 steps are even better but doing it after eating a meal after eating your meals is the best time to do this because when you eat food you’re going to have blood sugar Spike even with the lowering of carbs that we mentioned in the protein and fat there’s still going to be a rise in glucose and the more metabolically unhealthy you are the more visceral fat you have the higher that blood sugar Spike the higher that blood sugar goes after eating the more insulin is required from your pancreas to be pumped out to clear that excess glucose out of the bloodstream and into your cells that’s not good the more insulin the more you store fat so by going for a walk you blunt this big spike in blood sugars and you allow less insulin to become produced meaning you get into a fat burning State faster walking is one of the best things you can do and this study proves it and there’s numerous studies that show this but this study titled the effects of postprandial walking on the glucose response after meals with different characteristics so what this study did they took participants in three different groups one group ate a low carbohydrate meal one group ate a mixed meal of carbs and fat and protein and the other group had a straight up high carb meal and all three groups when they walked for 30 minutes after a meal saw positive results here’s what the study said although higher glucose levels were observed with High carbohydrate meal are finding show that a 30 minute post prandial meaning after eating brisk walk session improves the glycemic response after meals huge so 30 minute walk after all your meals and if you can’t do it after all your meals do it after your biggest meal of the day I interviewed a world renown expert uh Mike mutel who’s a fat loss Fitness expert and a good friend of mine and he’s going to share with you right now why walking is one of the best ways to burn fat visc fat overall body fat and extend your lifespan so check out this clip it’s going to blow your mind from Mike mutzel if people wanted to shed stubborn Fat Mike how can walking help with this and what is the right method of walking to make this more efficient Ben great question I think people need to think about walking as a mandatory aspect of their lifestyle irrespective of whatever diet or fasting program they’re doing uh various Studies have been emerging over the past I want to say five or six years finding that the threshold for the number of steps that we should be walking every day is right around 9,000 so that’s what people should aim for uh other studies show about 12,000 for preventing different diseases and these are common conditions there was a huge metaanalysis involving 1.3 million people finding that if you walk at least 8600 steps per day you can avoid and reduce your risk of developing all sorts of conditions from sleep apnea to depression to uh high blood pressure pressure improving metabolic Health producing visceral fat um so that’s really important but getting back to your question specifically about losing belly fat um we should be breaking our walks up into what I I consider and researchers talk about this exercise snacks so having three or four 2500 step sessions interspersed throughout the day so you know people are always wondering like well will coffee break my fast will this or that break my fast walking actually helps you uh trigger the the autophagy mechanisms that are some of the health benefits linked with fasting uh we can get into the the sort of synergy between exercise and autophagy and the parallels with fasting later but but to get real granular with this 3 to 4 2500 or 3,000 step sessions and so what that might look like is before you have uh breakfast in the morning a lot of people fast in the morning a lot of your listeners do that um just go out and get 2500 3,000 steps you know and then around after lunchtime after your first major meal um get another 3,000 steps and then after dinner you get 3,000 and if you do these little exercise breaks it’s actually more effective than just going to the gym and doing say 45 minutes on a treadmill or a 45 minute walk so interspersing exercise and walking throughout the day uh is better than just doing one bout of exercise and I like to share the research from a gentleman known as his name is Edward Coyle at UT Austin and he’s published many randomized control trials where uh they randomize subjects to either a low step count group medium step count and High Step count and to enumerate those step counts we’re talking 2600 steps for a whole day so just relegating people to a lab where they’re only walking with their pedometer 2500 steps and then they randomize people to either walk 4,500 steps or 9,000 steps and then what they do after just this is I think two and over the course of two and four days depending upon which study they published they’ve done a few of these different trials then after those interventions uh they will give the sub subjects a standardized high fat test meal and they’ll look at markers of fat oxidation as well as postmeal hypertriglyceridemia so I know you talk a lot about lipids and and biomarkers high postmeal triglycerides are a strong independent risk factor of future heart disease as well as metabolic deterioration and it’s a proxy of poor fat utilization and handling and poor fat oxidation so you don’t want a strong High postmeal triglyceride level would suggest that you have some degree of poor metabolic health and so what the investigators found is when people do not walk at least 8,000 steps per day after the standardized test meal they have an exaggerated postmeal level of their blood triglycerides which as I mentioned very problematic arguably worse than LDL cholesterol which we can get into later and the differential in fat oxidation between the low step count group again most people are just walking about 2,000 3,000 steps per day you know they get up they walk they go to the car they drive to work they get in the office they sit all day then they drive home and watch TV and so most people are pretty sedentary and there was a 30% reduction When comparing the high step count group around 8,500 steps compared to the 2600 step count so if we think about just two days and this is some people might be traveling going to Yos or Yellowstone with the family they’re in an RV wi AO they’re eating you know chips and hot dogs and things like that sitting around or on a on an airplane you know so we do this uh all people do this all the time and we wonder why we can’t lose fat and this just this is one very simple way uh to just improve your body’s ability to burn fat because going further what the study did is they also in one arm of the study they had individuals do a 60 Minute Zone 2 exercise session which as we know zone two is actually I don’t think it’s the best for long-term fat loss but when you’re doing Zone to low intensity cardio you tend to the body relies more upon burning fat for fuel to uh give your muscles energy during that exercise session there wasn’t a statistically signific significant increase in fat oxidation in the low step count group meaning that if people don’t walk a lot but they go to the gym they’re not getting the most mileage from that gym session because they’re not just doing these daily uh activities of daily living that are supporting fat oxidation so yeah to be very concise three to four sessions uh walking sessions of you know 250000 to 3,000 steps interspersed throughout the day and honestly Ben this is great for mental focus I mean you can only focus on a one you know finite task for a short period of time uh and so this just really helps break up the day you feel better you digest your food better we can get into the ciran Rhythm health because I encourage people to walk outside even on a cloudy day the uh the intensity of the Sun the Lux uh is is well over a thousand which really helps Toc entrain your circuiting clock system and Foster that sleep pressure later in the day so there’s a bunch of different health benefits uh but yeah it really helps people lose a lot more belly fat I’m sold I I have I have been sold for quite some time you broke it down so well and the evident this this research is clear that it’s beneficial especially when you chunk it out so 9,000 steps per day seems to be the target uh I tend to get around 12 or 13,000 on average per day and it’s chunked it’s not in one long workout so I tend to do that naturally with my day-to-day it’s the benefit of having a dog by the way it’s I walk him at least twice a day so I get outside you mentioned going for a walk after dinner I’d love for you to share the benefits of going for a walk after eating uh maybe a higher carve meal of what it does to kind of blunt that post pral glucose yeah this is amazing and and the way that I sort of figured this out I mean obviously there’s research you to show this but back when continuous glucose monitors the Abbott freestyle came on the on the market back in 2017 um you know I had been doing keto eating a low carb diet since 2014 got into it and I was like you know kind of curious like if I were to go to a vegan restaurant uh here in Seattle I went to I just Google the most popular vegan restaurant um my family went in there and we just said hey we’ve never been here before give us your your the most popular items on the menu and it was you know pizza and some Breads and some different things and I’m testing my glucose in real time I calibrated the glucose monitor and so forth and I could see my glucose start to continuously in increase to 185 Mig per deciliter and so for folks listening that is in the pre-diabetic range now I know that might sound alarming people are like well you’re diabetic it’s like no I had been used to eating a low carb diet for a while and research shows this when you get habitually accustomed to eating a low carb diet and then you have a very high carb meal your body can have an OV exaggerated response to that meal and that’s exactly what happened and you know I was like oh my gosh we need to go for a walk to get this down and no kidding Ben I went for my usual one mile walk with the dogs uh came back and my glucose went from 185 to 85 milligrams per deser and I I made a video on this and I was just blown away you know we hear all the time about exercise is good for fat loss exercise helps with blood flow exercise you know helps reduce glucose and and and improve the valley the Peaks and troughs and glucose levels but in real time I was able to see this and I thought wow this is really powerful and it really speaks to when go to other parts of the world you know I know some of your audience lives outside of North America but most are relegated to North America that’s just kind of how YouTube works and you know when you go to Europe and other places people just walk you know they don’t have cars and and things like this they have public transportation but you know people are walking in this but yet they’re eating bread and baguettes and pasta you’re like well why don’t we see the Obesity uh in parts of Europe where they do have a relatively High carbohydrate diet and my uh hypothesis is that they’re just walking more they’re just more active and and moving around more so that I think is really important so if someone does have a cheat meal someone listening is going to go to a birthday or a wedding or have a barbecue and there might be Temptations with a hot dog or some chips or some ice cream or whatever if you just go for a rigorous walk for 15 20 minutes that’s all it takes you can literally cut your glucose in half by doing that and obviously there’s many health benefits too because you insulin you know if you are normally low carb and then you have a high GL glucose or high calorie meal um you’re going to have an OV exaggerated insulin response to that and and we know there’s downsides to insulin in terms of uh facilitating AOS sclerosis and the formation of plaque in your arteries uh inflammation immune suppression there’s a a long list and so by just helping your body do what insulin would normally do and put glucose into your muscles by moving your muscles you’re causing them to absorb uh that glucose and and we already know this in the postmeal window about 80% of glucose is deposited in skeletal muscle so if you just add some stimulus there by walking because people don’t think about muscle as an organ it’s an organ just like your thyroid just like your liver just like your pancreas but in order for this organ to work it needs stimulation and so we need to stimulate this organ through activity and that’s where exercise really comes in and people don’t think that walking is an exercise but it really is you know you’re moving those muscles and I will tell you there’s research out of Copenhagen uh researchers in Denmark outside of Copenhagen have done uh studies finding that in diabetics the leg muscles become insulin resistant before the musculature in the upper body and I know people go to the gym they lift you know chest and biceps and and I do that stuff too I I like lifting weights but you you need a lot of stimulation in your legs because for some reason they become sort of disease likee before the musculature in the upper body and I would argue that part of that is because we have through natural collection and and just how humans are either hunting historically ancestrally hunting or gathering we’re moving we’re never meant to sit in our cars for three hours a day and and Rush our traffic or sit in desks we are always we should be moving and this is one of the things if you look at the Blue Zone research we’re hearing so much push about well you got to go on a plant-based diet because see these blue zones eat plant more plants than meat you know depending upon the Blue Zone so therefore the plant-based diet is the the key here it’s the sinanan of longevity well not so fast these Blue zone areas are are also characterized by a lot of recreational activity in Sardinia in parts of Costa Rica in Japan these people move they don’t sit in their cars they’re they’re you know moving throughout the day having these so-called exercise snacks so uh again if you have a cheat meal go for a brisk walk it will literally cut your glucose levels almost in half well there you have it I hope Mike Mel and I have inspired you to get at least 7,000 steps a day but get those steps after eating your meal for the best visc Al fat burning response your next tip number six is to practice intermittent fasting there are so many benefits to in fasting here are some of the benefits I love and there’s a typo right there just ignore that typo so here’s one of the benefits you protect against neurodegenerative diseases that’s because your body goes through the cellular cleaning process called autophagy where it clears these senescent cells insulin levels drop and human growth hormone increases that is key for burning visceral fat we already established we need a lower insulin obviously fasting does that but human growth hormone is one of the key hormones that helps you burn body fat and as you practice fasting you get a rise in human growth hormone studies suggest huge increase in human growth hormone hour after hour during a fast this is your body’s way of pumping you full of energy because it thinks you’re going through a famine it doesn’t understand this it’s just hard wired this way one of the other benefits you reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels obviously you reduce risk of heart disease you reduce blood pressure and overall lipids boost metabolism Because by the way it does not slow down your metabolism when you fast it does the complete opposite studies suggest it extends lifespan reduces inflammation removes waste from cells and also helps with hormones like leptin which is your satiety hormone and testosterone so the schedule you’re going to follow for intermittent fasting is an 186 schedule this is a great schedule for burning visceral fat something I do on a daily basis this means for 18 hours you’re in the fasted State no food what are you having in the fasted State just water electrolytes supplements coffee tea that’s it no snacking no food for 18 hours so that would mean you have a 6-hour eating window to get your food and your protein so for example from 12: to 6:00 p.m. you have your eating window you’re going to eat 2 to three meals between 12: and 600 p.m. this little window right here from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. the next day day you can see from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. the next day you’re in your fasted state so you’re using sleep as that fasted State you’re having an earlier dinner by 600 p.m. that is an 186 schedule that I want you to follow to tap into visceral fat the seventh step here in your protocol is to get 90 minutes of deep sleep there are four main stages of sleep each night you have well when you’re awake and then you have three main cycles of sleep light sleep deep sleep REM sleep all are important REM sleep is great for it’s called rapid eye movement it’s great for U consolidating short-term memory for long-term memory great for focus and mental Clarity but the deep sleep right here this is where you burn fat this is where you burn visceral fat this is where most of your fat burning hormones are activated and you’re really tapping into stored fat for energy and you want to aim to get 90 minutes each night of this deep sleep you could track that with like an aura ring I have an aura ring here I’ll put a link for it in the notes down below Apple watches fitbits bands there’s many devices I’ll drop links for many of them all of them down below in the notes for you to check out personally I like my my aura ring but if you could achieve 90 minutes of deep sleep this Delta sleep each night you’re going to accelerate your results with burning visceral fat so here are some scientifically proven tips to get more deep sleep starting tonight number one drink banana tea I call it Nature’s NyQuil now I got this from my colleague Dr Michael Bruce banana tea you grab a whole banana cut the ends off but you leave the peel on because the peel of the banana has more micronutrients like potassium and magnesium that help you calm down than the actual itself and you boil it for about 5 minutes and then pour that into a cup and just drink the tea great for somebody who has a racing mind at night drink some banana tea cold bedroom studies suggest that your room needs to be about 65° fahr to get that deep fat burning Delta Sleep set that thermostat to around 65 degrees Fahrenheit dark bedroom you don’t want anything with light at night don’t have the television on put your alarm clock far away put your phone out of the room or turn shut it off and if you can have blackout curtains that’s best but you could also just wear a sleep mask I use the one from bonch charge which I’ll drop a link for down below but you want to make sure no light going through your eyes or on your skin to get deep sleep at night mouth taping is a game Cher for deep sleep when you breathe through your mouth at night you are not going to get enough deep sleep you’re going to deplete nitric oxide and you’re going to feel groggy in the morning and it’s going to be hard to burn fat you want to breathe through your nose so I simply wear an adhesive a piece of tape from somnifix and I’ll drop a link for them down below every night I just put this on before bed and it trains my body to Brea breathe through my nose where you get more into a parasympathetic state so you get more deep sleep you increase nitric oxide which is very important for cell communication and something called Vaso dilation some mouth tape at night I’ll drop a link for them down below and then lastly take some magnesium 400 to 600 Mig of magnesium I’ll drop a link for my favorite one down below now let’s get into some of your questions here that you said submitted and by the way if you’re watching on YouTube keep submitting those questions cuz we use them for videos I want to address all your questions what role does stress play with visceral fat that’s the first question as I mentioned earlier insulin is the only hormone I should say the primary hormone that stores visceral fat but cortisol works with insulin cortisol is the stress hormone so it plays a huge role you want to make sure you’re mastering your stress and by optimizing your sleep that’s already going to help you master your stress but stress comes from three different areas mental emotional physical and chemical so address all three if you’re stressed out watching the news watching television seeing what’s happening in the world uh having toxic relationships I know it sounds like how could this cause visceral fat well it’s called a cortisol belly for a reason when you have high levels of cortisol chronically high levels of cortisol you’re going to create a cortisol belly and you’re going to store fat so yes master stress one of the best ways to combat high levels of cortisol is with the hormone oxytocin you you see oxytocin and cortisol have an inverted relationship when you produce oxytocin cortisol drops how do you produce oxytocin I’m glad you asked hugging your dog or another human being for 10 seconds or more will produce oxytocin watching something funny will produce oxytocin doing something you love like a hobby for me it’s basketball will produce oxytocin vitamin G is the best way to produce oxytocin you want to talk about the best supplements in the world for visceral fat and chronic stress and oxytocin production vitamin G is where it’s at now I don’t have an affiliate link or a coupon code for vitamin G because vitamin G is the practice of gratitude you can see here in my shirt vitamin G what you appreciate appreciates and I’m being serious studies show numerous studies that the more gratitude you have in your heart and I’ve named it that gratitude is strength training for your soul I love that line thought about it when I was walking my dog the other day put it in the comment section if you’re watching on YouTube gratitude is strength training for your soul you get an immediate benefit there’s no upper limit on vitamin G it’s free and vitamin G gratitude will activate cortisol and Gaba and dopamine and it combats cortisol helps you burn fat next question is how much protein should I have to burn visceral fat we established that you want to have less than 50 gram of carbs total per day the focus should actually be protein and I brought on JJ Virgin on the metabolic Freedom podcast and she’s going to give you a Master Class A short little tip here on how protein helps you burn visceral fat so check out this clip with JJ Virgin the first one I love so much because it’s going to solve a couple problems because if you’re trying to lose fat at some point you’re going to have to go into a caloric deficit and you’re going to have to achieve it one way or the other and if you’re hungry and having cravings that’s out the window so the easiest way to be able to get into that at some point which we will talk about but this is the first big rock is to eat protein first is to prioritize protein but I I say eat protein first because I have been at too many dinners and heard too many times from women that they get too full to eat their protein and I’m like well I just sat at dinner with you and I watched you have a salad with cranberry raspberry vinegarette glazed nuts you literally had it a sunde then you had some bread then you had some appetizer like calamari and then you say that you and I’m talking fried calamari so you’re mainly getting dough and fried right and then finally your meal comes and it’s like some kind of starch and veggie and a little protein and you eat the starch then you finally get over the protein of course you’re full so the easy way to solve this is to eat protein first now why do I want you to do this so when you look at our three macronutrients you know along with water that we must have to survive which it’s interesting we do not have to have carbohydrates to survive as you know you know protein and fat and water we must have we can live without carbs which it and I know this must make you crazy too Ben it’s like why did we design an entire diet based on the one thing that we can live without how is it working for us not good you know so you know let’s focus on the protein and the reason I love that is a couple things number one when you’re eating Whole Foods proteins like wild salmon grass-fed beef you’re going to get healthy fats too so you get everything you need and then drink a bunch of water with it the reason I want people to focus on protein first is protein compared to carbs and fat is so much more metabolically costly to digest and assimilate where fat really takes nothing to get on your body and be burned as fat or stored as fat and we have a great storage Depot pretty much unlimited for fat then carbs maybe 5 to 10% is the processing to either get them stored in your muscles as glycogen which is what we hope we have like liver and muscle or turned into fat which is what we hope we don’t do or just burned and then we’ve got protein 20 to 30% of the of the energy that we take in when we take in protein has to be used in the digestion and assimilation of protein how cool is that so 100 calories of protein is only really 70 calories probably or 75 contrast that with 100 calories of fat is 100 calories so that’s the first part of it the second piece of it and you would you would think and this has actually been shown is that if all you did initially this would help you initially it’s not going to be a long-term fix but initially if all you did was take some of the calories away from fat carbs and move them over to protein you would eat less overall because you wouldn’t be as hungry but You’ take in less calories overall too it’s not a huge effect but it does make a difference and everything counts but the second reason I love protein is because it’s going to make you feel Fuller longer everyone’s talking about glp 1es and I’m like all right we’ll just eat protein it’s one of the you know nature Nature’s little glp1 Agonist protein so protein not only helps us with Hunger but it also helps us with cravings and as you know those are two very different things and so you know now you’ve got the building blocks we turn over 300 plus uh grams of amino acids a day in our bodies and we need the protein we need the essential amino acids from the protein to make the other amino acids and then to make neurotransmitters that will help shut down our Cravings so we we’re not hungry we don’t have the Cravings we’ve got a better ther effect so that’s where I really like people to start because it just makes the rest of this easy and it’s something you can do whatever diet you’re following so I always do that like let’s like not get into some the diet religion and the diet Wars you could do this plant-based you can do this carnivore you can do it whichever way you do it but start with making protein 7 to one gram per pound of Target body weight you can even push it a little higher if you’re working on recomping and put that as your first thing that you eat before you eat anything else so that’s I was going to ask you how much do you recommend so 7 to one gram per ideal body weight can you share how somebody would calculate that based off of somebody who’s overweight right now they’re trying to lose weight yeah and I mean here’s the thing and this is what I used to do but it just got so complicated in the perfect world we would go get a dexa scan we’d find out our Target body weight that we’d really want to be but based on more of our skeletal muscle than dose it per skeletal muscle all right you know what the minute we start to make things hard then people have a reason why not to so you know that weight you feel good at right now I’m gonna I’m going to say that we always want to look past weight to what that weight’s made up of as the most important thing however let’s just not get into the weeds of should it be 140 pounds or 160 pounds pick a weight and then just look at that weight and let’s say it’s you know 150 pounds so you’re going to go 7times 150 would be how much is your lowest amount and then you could go up to 150 grams and really you can go higher I mean this you know there so much research has come out lately about protein intake because it used to be that don’t eat more than I I remember I got a DM you’ll love this I got a DM my manicur has told me that I should not eat more than 27 grams of protein at a meal because I’m like because what what will happen where will it go you know because I’m like it’s got to go somewhere it’s not going poof you know we can take protein and we could use it as fuel our body doesn’t want to so you know it’s like it’s going to try to use it more and break it into amino acids and use it to rebuild but if it had to use it it could turn it into sugar and you could use it for fuel or you could turn it then and put it into glycogen in the muscles or you could turn it into fat and store it so you can do any of those things it’s not GNA like turn into some evil rampaging monster in your body do not worry you know it’s like everyone’s worried about overeating protein I’m worried about you overeating sugar and damaged fats and Ultra processed food I don’t think we’ve ever seen anyone you know who’s in the hospital because they were you know they just had a really really uh Pig Out diet on wild salmine and they got no that doesn’t happen no one ever I mean even you know look at carnivore are you getting people sick because they’re eating grassed meat no we get sick because we eat Ultra processed foods you know that’s why we’re sick there you have it so I always say get one gram of protein per pound of your ideal body weight so if your ideal body weight your goal weight is 120 lbs you want to get about 120 grams of protein J to just establish how important that is for lean muscle mass visceral fat satiety and all the other benefits fourth question how do you measure visceral fat there’s an indirect way to measure visceral fat that’s with the fasting insulin it’s a blood test and if you see that over 10 you have insulin resistance you’re storing visceral fat cheap test to get got to ask for it from your doctor the most accurate way to test is with a skin and I brought on a visceral fat expert this guy has reviewed thousands of visceral fat scans he is the world leader on visceral fat and one of my dear friends Dr Shan Omar and he’s going to share with you how to actually measure visceral fat and if you’re listening on the podcast we’ll explain it in a way for you to understand what we’re sharing so check this out what are the best ways of measuring uh viseral fat you can measure it uh quite accurate through a dexa scan uh but let’s just be honest those of you um that are aware of somebody that’s kind of a dexus SC for the purposes of looking at visceral fat let me ask you a question uh what kind of effect or influence did that have so uh what happens when you get a dexus scan it gives you a number and when you get an MRI scan or you get a CT scan of your abdomen uh which you you can get a number because there’s software that can be uh that can quantify your visceral fat but uh I was just sharing with a radiologist of yesterday that runs A rad Radiology system that um it’s it’s not even important for me or a doctor to look at that MRI scan you know who’s the most important person look that scan the person who did it the the person yeah who went and got it so so you can see the visceral fat inside you because uh once you understand that visceral fat the enemy for what it is and how problematic it is then you don’t want to interpret your the the problem you have through a numeric reduction to a numeric figure and that’s what you you get when you do a dexus scan but when you stare at that the abundance of white that white Enemy Inside of You by an MRI scan or if it’s a CT scan your your adomen and uh the difference between CT scan and your MRI scan is uh they’re both about as good of resolution a higher resolution MRI but it’s it suffice suff it’s a sufficient uh modality to look at visceral fat by CT scan the downside to it is the radiation that’s required when you get a CT scan and an MRI scan doesn’t use any radiation at all it uses safe magnetic fields uh so uh from a standpoint of safety the MRI is higher resolution uh no radiation required uh but um CT is an important part of the discussion because uh women who are listening many of you have had CT uh down scans and you need to go back and take ownership of that and do two things one uh look at the report the report generated that will have been interpreted will be bereft and devoid of any mention of visceral fat no doctor ever reads visceral fat that’s starting to change Dr Anna C Rosa R OA is the first radiologist that I’m aware of who is now routinely reading visceral fat fat around the heart fat within the muscles and deep subcutaneous fat in the world wow nobody else is reading if you’re a radiologist I think you need to to grasp that you just like me as an MD it was kept from you in medical school and kept from you in Radiology residency it’s the largest part of the adomen in most people and is completely ignored and it’s because in my opinion it’s the influence of the curriculums in medical school from Big Pharma uh that’s keeping it out of our curriculum to teach doctors uh but you need to visualize the visceral fat insidey the M MRI is the best way uh to do that and uh it’s uh when when people visualize it I get lots of colorful language the f bomb is dropped all the time my my my office when that happens uh people get very upset uh I’ve had uh clients get so upset that one I remember thinking I may have to call the police because they were dropping the f bomb so much they couldn’t sit and they run around you know standing up walking around saying this is the last eff in time I changed my life you know and and there I had other clients out in the waiting room and I was like this is super embarrassing they were all sorts of colorful uh language well some sometimes that emotional impact is needed to make the change that’s your that’s your point you know you see that with the image seven years later that guy is still nice and lean and healthy now it changed his life completely around I’ve had other clients uh one one client that I’ve told the story literally passed out when he visualized how much viseral fat that he had inside and so for that reason now I require all my clients to sit down I don’t let them stand because this guy was standing and he fell he went unconscious right in front of me U because he was so upset when I showed how much visceral fat he had now keep in mind if you’re you know clients if you’re watch or patients are watching today that you have to understand what visceral fat is and so um can we so can can we um do you have images on your phone that you I do yeah so what we’re going to do for those watching on YouTube if you’re listening on the audio podcast uh we’ll explain it in a way where you can understand what we’re showing but it’s better for you to go to youtube.com/ Kamp maybe after you finish listening so we could see exactly for those watching the visual impact of somebody who has a lot of visceral fat and then somebody who has a healthy amount a small amount of visceral fat so we’ll show that to you in a second yeah so yeah it’s really important I think for people to understand a little bit about visceral fat they need to know what a good amount is and so when people come I spend probably about half hour you know going through good examples like of a people with a low amount of visceral fat and people that have a high amount of Vis start with good or bad what are we starting with uh so th this is both good and bad um yeah so we’ll put that on the screen as well but show and I can we’ll send these images so the top image is somebody has um just a a moderate amount of visceral fat so pretty good but the bottom image you can see this person is filled with a lot of white so on an MRI scan fat shows up as white so this is Gabe a friend of mine from the Army National Guard I use his example a lot and uh for a a relatively modest amount of visceral fat and then this is uh assf at the bottom image who has huge amount of viseral fat and you want to be mostly dark you know Gabe is mostly dark he’s got big muscles oev is mostly white and when you have a lot of white you have a small amount of dark because the white uh unfortunately uh causes atrophy sarcopenia so we see a a deposition a reduction and visceral fat and this is this is a great example that almost all dark this person has the the smallest amount of visceral fat I’ve seen in a female W and uh she’s on social media um this is Karen Lauser she gives me permission to show her image and uh God bless this woman I mean I show show her a picture you she’s got 600,000 followers she is a very healthy looking woman she she actually is very attractive she’s a model and the reason she’s so attractive is because um she’s never had visceral fat she it’s the influence of visceral fat not the presence of visceral fat that causes people to have disease so you can accumulate a lot of visceral fat in a very short period of time and look great or um you can have a small amount of visceral fat over a long period of time and that influence that trickle trickle trickle of all the inflammatory molecules that come from it deteriorate your level of health and your appearance so if you see somebody who’s older Carolyn is 59 wow she looks amazing yeah yeah and so I’ve been on her on her on her Instagram live with her and God bless her she is um very dedicated to her followers she takes her role as a social media influenc are very serious her and her husband uh frequently do uh shows together and so she is routinely promoting uh health and because she enjoys uh uh talking about the topic and she herself has you know a very healthy appearing body so um it’s it’s really necessary to understand um visual fat where it is uh within the abdomen this is the little tiny divot U right there at the top is belly button oh that’s her belly little divot at the top there got it is is it giving you a total percentage of visceral fat like a total body fat or is it giving you certain areas and their percentages or maybe not at all you’re just looking at the photo and stad yeah we’re for us we just have people look at um how much visceral fat they have there is software out there and it’s free by the way if you are a radiologist and you want to start um scanning and reading uh visceral fat and you want to both quantify it uh with a numeric value um uh as well as qualitatively share it uh with with patients they get through it uh there is free software that will actually quantify now when when we were studying our startup for the National Science Foundation uh we we were spending money on software development to do our own proprietary system to quantify we actually abandoned it we had the ability to to measure it and we stopped measuring it because it it didn’t have any uh demonstrable impact on our CLI it was you because you give them a number you really want to show them U that that bad amount of fat so uh here’s another example of somebody has a huge amount of visceral fat show it to the screen so camera knows what put on so uh in the top uh example here is somebody that has a very large amount of visceral fat oh we lost it oh uh very large amount I’m glad you picked that up um of visceral fat uh in that top image and these are their legs corresponding leg images you see all the white streaks and those um leg images are from fatty infiltration of a a fat within the skeleton muscle or it’s fatty replacement of muscle tissue or it’s also called adverse muscle composition or myosteatosis is the technical term for it so the more visceral fat you have the more of this in inflammatory infiltrating fat you have going on within your skeletal muscle and you know you can understand why your muscles would would stop be performing as well and nobody’s talking about it’s completely ignored by doctors when you when CTS are done MRIs are done they don’t talk about either visceral fat or those fatty infiltrates and then here’s another individual has mostly muscle inside very very small amount of visceral fat and their legs are very lean very dark they look like Fong there’s no marbling or fatty infiltration going on so very different between those two comparisons yeah I call them bricks and clouds difference uh that that uh this image up up up on the top Corner looks like human wagu wagu human skeletal muscle moralization of the skeletal muscle so um I think it’s really important to to uh to have good accurate uh imagery of of these targets and dexa scans don’t allow you to visualize it they quantify it uh CT scans allow you to visualize visualize it you can quantify it through CT scan but there’s radiation but one of the reasons why I talk about CTS again as I mentioned earlier is because so many people have had them you need to go back and and get that report but take a look at that image yourself you’re entitled to it that’s your record go and look at the amount of visceral fat uh that you have within your CT skan of your abdomen or if you’ve had uh scans of your extremities take a look at fatty infiltration and see where you’re at and you could if you particularly if you changed your diet or change your lifestyle you can measure the impact the interval change how often should we be retesting well I recommend I for my my clients I scan anywhere from 3 to 6 to 9 months I have some clients who will only do it once a year because they have such low levels of atopos either a visceral fat or fat within their skeletal muscle that once a year is adequate for them but I would say for the majority of people you probably want to be doing it um every 3 to six months what is the limitation um one is time takes a little bit of time you got to drive there and go get it get it done as MRI scan of the adom and scanning time is about anywhere 9 to 10 minutes or so um but the cost is uh often times a limitation for other people uh for for a lot of people because that it ranges by state to state it does yeah excellent point so uh MRI in in one location like Los Angeles um they the cheapest I’ve seen about $240 uh some places in Florida where we’re where we’re at today uh you can actually get MRI scans in the Miami area for around $250 uh but then up in my area um couple hours north of where I live that same mrri scan uh cash pay discounted uh will still cost you $2,000 900 for single a difference I know so you you’re better off flying to Miami enjoying the weekend here getting a scan done and then going back to Minnesota right that’s exactly yeah so you should shop around um and I have a course uh some videos um what’s your weite on uh just my uh just my name http://www.d a n m.com Dr sha.com we’ll put it down below as well and and I have a educational Community is just uh uh Dr shauna. podia p o d a.com and so you can join my educational Community where I do a lot of educational videos and courses and things even teaching people how to read their own MRI why because doctors don’t know how to read it they won’t read it and uh so very often if you if you question an MRI you know to to uh uh to look for visceral fat they want even do it so you know you should put it put on indication why you’re requesting MRI say chronic belly pain or diverticular disease or something else because they’ll they won’t do it they Vis fat they you I have one client that actually in Florida it’s a great story he goes he he requests an MRI scan for a visceral fat the front desk approves it the technician goes and does the the downal MRI scan the report shows up with the request for the radiologist now and he goes I don’t know how to read visal fat he goes oh my God you got to cancel this scan give the patient their money back so literally the the client got it all his money back from the MRI scan and uh got a free MRI and of course I I could read it and and the client knows how to read it because it’s follow-up scan and I teach all my clients how to read their own SC so it worked out well for them so just be careful about what you what request is if you if you want to try to get a MRI scan for uh to to look at your visceral fat if you say viscal fat um the doctors are they’re going to they’re going to cancel your request and you’re never going to get your scan there you have it the easiest diet simple steps seven steps here to burn visceral fat follow it and let me know how it works for you and share this episode with a friend if you enjoy this video you’re going to love a recent video I just published on Foods 10 foods that put you in a fat burning State I just discuss a few of them today but there are a few others that I get into in this video check out this clip I’ll see you in that next video there are two types of food that we eat foods that cause weight gain and foods that cause fat loss numerous studies show how beneficial olive oil is not just for your health but for fat loss weight loss resistance insulin resistance and also diabetes the findings showed that the group consuming the olive oil was more effective

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog


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