Abdominal fat is nothing but a accumulation of fat cells around the abdominal organs. In fact, this increase in fat levels increases the risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disorders. If you have belly fat, it is not always considered visceral fat. Indeed, it may simply be subcutaneous fat stored under the skin. Subcutaneous fat, which can also be found in other parts of your body, is more visible. Visceral fat is hidden inside the abdominal cavity and is difficult to detect. Intermittent fasting appears to be a go-to tool for trimming waistlinelet’s take a look at its mechanism of action.
Overeating or Intermittent Fasting?
Although many diets focus on what to eat and what not to eat, intermittent fasting, on the other hand, focuses on when to eat.
When you practice this form of fasting, you only eat at a set time. In short, the fact of not consuming anything for a certain number of hours on a daily basis can help the body to burn its own fats. Moreover, studies show that intermittent fasting is beneficial for health.
It has now been 25 years since the neuroscientist Mark Mattson, studies it. According to him, our body has undergone transformations in order to be able to go without food for several hours. During prehistoric times, even before humans knew how to cultivate, they were able to survive without food for long periods of time.
Currently, television, smartphones and the web in general remain accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a result, we stay active for longer hours to watch our favorite series or to share on social networks. We sit and snack all day and most of the night.
Indeed, this excess of calories and this lack of physical activity can contribute to the advance of obesity, cardiovascular diseases or even type 2 diabetes. Fortunately, studies show that intermittent fasting is able to counter this phenomenon.
How does fasting work?
You can practice intermittent fasting in different ways, however they are all based on the fact ofalternate periods of eating and fasting. For example, you can try eating only for eight hours a day and fasting the rest of the time.
In fact, after several hours without eating, the body depletes its sugar stores and begins to burn fat. That’s what we call metabolic switching: Phenomenon that refers to the preferential shift from the use of glucose as a fuel source to the use of fatty acids and cetonic corpse (substances produced during the breakdown of fats). Your ability to switch between these two metabolic states is an indicator of your metabolic flexibility.
Does fasting make you have a flatter stomach?
The reputation of intermittent fasting is well established, particularly in terms of helping to weight loss.
In summary, the leptin (satiety hormone) take part in weight management. In particular, it regulates food intake as well as energy expenditure through the alteration of signals sent to the hypothalamus and other areas of the brain. We are talking about leptin resistance when the brain no longer perceives the signals sent by the leptin. As a result, the person with leptin resistance is continually hungry. Intermittent fasting helps bring down the level of inflammation responsible for leptin resistance, thereby supporting weight loss.
If you want to lose belly fat, we advise you to adopt a more balanced diet while practicing the young. In addition, a 2022 study claims that this practice helps to lose visceral fat. Therefore, the integration of intermittent fasting in your daily routine can help you lose belly fat.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8839325/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25540982/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26135345
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6471315/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8839325/
Leave a Comment