If you're above 50, you know that losing weight can be a challenge. But did you know something as plain as altering your drinking habits can impact the visceral fat stored deep in your belly? It's true!
According to a dietitian, if you’re looking for ways to reduce the dangerous visceral fat that creeps up with age, it may take more than just cutting calories—making changes to what goes down your throat is a significant first step.
So get ready to learn about the five easiest tricks for shrinking hard-to-lose belly fat after 50.
Related Article: How to Lose Excess Abdominal Fat After 40?
How Fat Compromises Your Health
Your body fat is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you'll get! Unlike Forrest Gump and his sweets, it's important to distinguish between the different types of fat when it comes to your health.
Subcutaneous fat, for example, is found right beneath the skin and helps provide cushioning and insulation. Not so bad! On the other hand, visceral fat poses a much more serious health risk, as it accumulates around your midsection and organs.
But how do you get rid of a type of belly fat? Making the necessary dietary changes is the obvious choice here if you can commit to it; otherwise, some simple drinking habits can also help shrink visceral fat while reducing the associated risks with an abundance of it.
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It's no surprise that visceral belly fat is not our friend when it comes to our health and how we look. A recent study from the University of Illinois at Chicago found a strong association between too much fat stored in the abdominal cavity and an increased risk of metabolic diseases like insulin resistance and an even greater risk of death.
If that isn't a wake-up call, we don't know what is, so start thinking about how to get rid of it. This type of fat can wreak havoc on your cholesterol levels by decreasing your HDL ('good' cholesterol) and increasing your LDL ('bad' cholesterol)...Yikes! So if you don't want this kind of fat getting in the way, taking care of yourself needs to be a priority.
It can be easy to think that you have time to get your risk factors in check and make better lifestyle choices, but once you hit fifty, it's essential to take charge. As we age, our bodies are more susceptible to diseases like heart issues and diabetes, especially when excessive visceral fat is present.
Fortunately, there is a solution you can find about it! Because technically, the highest risk for heart problems comes after 65, your fifties are the ideal time to start getting rid of those pesky pounds of visceral fat through a routine of healthy habits and practices.
As we age, our metabolisms inevitably start to slow down, meaning it takes more effort and energy to keep our visceral fat levels in check.
So if you want to feel your best after turning 50, there’s no better way than focusing on getting into shape and keeping those visceral fat levels low.
Related Article: How to Get Rid of Back Fat With Exercise & Diet
Healthy Drinking Habits to Shrink Visceral Fat After 50
To eliminate fat from your body, you must follow healthy drinking habits. These habits will benefit plenty of people above fifty, bringing healthy practices into routine and chopping danger every day.
1. Avoid Excessive Alcohol
If getting rid of visceral belly fat is your goal, reducing or eliminating your alcohol intake is a great place to start. Sure having the occasional drink won't hurt, but don't make a habit out of it.
Not only is alcohol high in empty calories that lead to weight gain, but drinking too much could cause excess fat to be stored as visceral fat and increase the circumference of your waistline.
So next time you want to reach for a beverage, one of those fancy mocktails or some sparkling water can help you stay on track and reach your goal instead.
Besides, developing these habits early on—in your 50s—will surely benefit you by reaching your 60s and 70s since an older body has more difficulty maintaining the same metabolism and muscle mass. To relieve this stress, you can take supplements like Whey Isolate supplements which feed lean muscle mass and increase overall health.
2. Keep Track of Your Soda Consumption
It may not feel like much, only one glass of soda, but Dietitians suggest that a single soda daily is associated with more visceral belly fat. Sipping on those sugary beverages daily isn't doing any good either; it's accelerating the aging process, too.
That's right—we're talking double the trouble after you hit 50! Unfortunately, Dietitians can tell that drinking a daily soda can almost add two additional years to how your body ages in healthy adults.
How about eliminating the daily soda habit to get rid of that pesky stomach fat and look younger? It would surely offer some major benefits for your health down the road. For a quicker result, start taking supplements like Fat Burner and wave goodbye to that abdominal fat.
3. Limit the Intake of Artificial Sweeteners
Getting rid of visceral belly fat can be challenging, especially as you get older. When making healthier swaps in our diets, most don't realize how much artificial sweeteners can contribute to excess weight gain—specifically around the waist.
Drinking diet soda or adding sweeteners to your daily cup of coffee may seem like a good idea, but these artificial additives may lead to more belly fat. Add Antioxidant Plus supplement to your routine for faster weight loss and better health discipline.
If you're looking for your long-term health goals, it may be time to break the habit and start limiting how much you consume now, or risk ending up with an unwelcome belly bulge later on down the line.
Related Article: Effective Ways to Lose Fat
4. Drink Green Tea
Dietitians suggest that regular consumption of this healthy drink has been linked to reducing one's risk of cancer, boosting brain health, and even improving oral hygiene—the list just goes on. But how does green tea help with weight loss?
The secret lies in the polyphenols found in green tea, which are known to speed up metabolism. Even better news for those past their 50s or 60s when metabolic speeds tend to slow down!
5. Drink Plenty of Water to Stay Hydrated
Drinking water is one of the most convenient and inexpensive steps to reduce visceral fat and manage weight. Not only does water contain zero calories and won't cause any additional weight gain, but it has recently been shown to impact how we age greatly.
Chronic dehydration could potentially shorten our lifespans and increase our risks for chronic disease. So if you're searching for ways to get rid of that annoying belly fat while also lengthening your lifespan, just reach for a glass of water when you want something to drink and keep a shaker bottle whenever you’re going out. It will remind you to keep yourself hydrated.
Related Article: Weight Loss Vs. Fat Loss: What's the Difference?
Conclusion
If you’re above fifty, chances are your weight loss process will give you a hard time. The harmful visceral fat causes several dangerous diseases like heart issues, diabetes, etc. To eliminate that factor, dietitians suggest 5 drinking habits to shrink body fat.
These factors include avoiding excessive alcohol, keeping track of soda consumption, limiting the intake of artificial sweeteners, and drinking green tea and plenty of water to stay hydrated. Making these simple changes to your drinking habits can provide immense benefits, such as a disease-free life, shooing away empty calories, and getting back into the weight loss process.
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Article Sources
- Chacko, Sabu M., et al. “Beneficial Effects of Green Tea: A Literature Review.” Chinese Medicine, vol. 5, Apr. 2010, p. 13. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1186/1749-8546-5-13.
- Kase, Colleen A., et al. ‘The Relationship of Alcohol Use to Weight Loss in the Context of Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment’. Appetite, vol. 99, Apr. 2016, pp. 105–11. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.014.
