The vast majority of good folks all around the world, perhaps just like you, are carrying a significant amount of excess weight around their mid-section.
Now, not only can this excess belly flab be demoralizing, carrying a devastating physical and emotional toll, but excess abdominal fat is even DEADLIER than you might imagine. In fact, research has shown this type of fat to possess more potentially fatal health risks than any other type of fat1–a reality that could very well steal decades of your life well before its time…
The fortunate news, however, is that in just a moment I’m going to show you exactly how you can begin to combat your belly fat issues with REAL science, but before I do, you first have to understand the 3 pitfalls directly responsible for CAUSING excess abdominal fat…
Cause #1? The typically recommended low-fat, high-grain diet. For decades, grains and other high carbohydrate foods formed the base of the food pyramid and the foundation for a “healthy diet”. All the while, fats were demonized.
Unfortunately, these recommendations couldn’t be further from the ideal path to a flat belly. A diet high in wheat and other grain products inevitably leads to high blood sugar and poor sensitivity to the hormone insulin.2,3,4 In turn, poor insulin sensitivity has been shown to be a major cause of abdominal fat accumulation.5,6 Even worse, the more abdominal fat you gain, the worse your insulin sensitivity becomes… and thus the vicious cycle begins, often leading to out-of-control belly fat storage over time.7,8,9
Fats, on the other hand, are instrumental in the regulation of your overall hormonal balance, including many fat-burning hormones. When you understand how to choose the right fats, replacing high-carb items in your diet such as bread, bagels, muffins, baked goods, and pasta with more of these fat-burning, healthful “fatty foods”, you’ll be well on your way to a flatter belly.
Here are 7 of my top “fatty foods” for a flat belly: Whole Eggs, Nuts (such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, and cashews), Seeds (such as sunflower seeds and flaxseeds), Avocado, Olive Oil, Fatty Fish (for example, mackerel, tuna, salmon, and trout), and Coconut Oil.
Still, none of these 7 fats qualify as my #1 fat for a flat belly, which stands head and shoulders above all of the previously mentioned fats in its ability to slim your waist and burn belly fat. You’ll want to make sure to consume plenty of this #1 belly-fat-burning fat daily, so be sure to keep reading as we’ll reveal exactly what it is and where you can find it in just a moment.
The second major cause of excess abdominal fat storage is increased levels of stress. You see, when your body is under stress, it secretes a stress-coping hormone called cortisol. Unfortunately, increased cortisol levels have been directly linked to excess belly fat.10,11 And it doesn’t take a whole lot to spike cortisol, either…simple subconscious worry and anxiety (which we all deal with to some degree), a busy schedule, and/or inadequate rest are enough to send cortisol levels soaring.
The third and final pitfall of increased belly fat stores is failing to consume effective levels of belly-fat-burning nutrients daily, particularly the #1 fat for a flat belly, conjugated linoleic acid. While you probably haven’t heard of conjugated linoleic acid, it’s been around since the beginning of time as this “super fat” is actually a healthy and naturally occurring fat found in beef and other dairy products such as yogurt, milk, butter, and cheese.
Beyond that, and of prime importance to today’s conversation, conjugated linoleic acid has been linked to an array of health benefits, most noteworthy being its unique ability to burn more belly fat than any other fat known to man.
Just how effective is conjugated linoleic acid at burning fat and slimming your waist?
- In a double-blind, placebo-controlled human study (the gold standard of research design) published in the Journal of International Medical Research, 20 participants were either given conjugated linoleic acid or an imposter (in the form of vegetable oil) daily for 12 weeks. At the end of the study period, the conjugated linoleic acid group lost 20% of their body fat while the placebo group lost no fat at all.14
- In another double-blind, placebo-controlled human study conducted by renowned Swedish researcher Dr. Annika Snedman, those receiving conjugated linoleic acid lost 400% more fat than the placebo group over the course of 12 weeks–and this was all done without any change in diet and without the implementation of a regular exercise program.15
Want more evidence? There’s no shortage when it comes to the belly-fat-blasting effects of conjugated linoleic acid…
- A third study conducted at the University of Barcelona, Spain measuring the effects of conjugated linoleic acid intake in 60 healthy men and women age 35 to 65 found that subjects receiving conjugated linoleic acid lost significant body fat (78% of which was from the belly region) while the placebo group actually GAINED weight…16
- A fourth double-blind, placebo-controlled human study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition with more than 175 total participants resulted in the conjugated linoleic acid group losing 8.7% of their total body fat while the placebo group once again GAINED weight. Subjects were asked not to change their diet or exercise routines during the study, further validating the intake of conjugated linoleic acid as the only explanation for the vast difference in results between the two test groups.17
- And as if that wasn’t enough, yet another study performed by the leading research team at Upsalla University in Sweden and published in the prestigious International Journal of Obesity resulted in the conjugated linoleic acid group significantly reducing their abdominal girth in only 4 weeks, while the placebo group experienced no change in abdominal measurements whatsoever.18
Clearly, research shows conjugated linoleic acid to be the #1 fat for burning unwanted belly fat through its unique ability to naturally activate the full fat-burning potential of each fat cell, but here’s the problem: the scientifically effective amount of conjugated linoleic acid (i.e. the daily amount necessary to obtain its belly-fat-burning benefits) is upwards of 2 grams per day, an amount that makes obtaining this level a virtual impossibility through beef and dairy products alone.19
For example, in order to obtain the necessary 2+ grams per day of conjugated linoleic acid you’d have to consume:
- 12 pounds of beef
- 25 pounds of cheddar cheese
- 5 and ½ sticks of butter
- 7 and ½ gallons of milk…or…
- 79, 8-oz containers of yogurt…20,21
…every single day of the week.
Of course, the calories contained in such large amounts of these foods would completely cancel out the fat-burning benefit of their conjugated linoleic acid content, not to mention the extraordinary expense and utter impracticality of consuming that volume of food, period.