Longevity

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A diet defense against the most dangerous fat

Subcutaneous fat vs visceral fat

While both types of fat – subcutaneous and visceral – build up when you consume more calories than you burn off with physical activity, where visceral fat is stored on your body is influenced by a complicated range of factors, including age, genetics, sleep quality and alcohol consumption.

For instance, women are more likely to begin storing fat in the belly (rather than their thighs or hips) after reaching menopause.

As well as making your waistband feel tight, visceral fat is associated with many health problems, including heart disease, breast cancer and asthma – so the less you have, the better.

Recently, researchers explored the role of polyphenols in reducing visceral fat. Polyphenols are a type of chemical compound present in many plant foods, with concentrated levels found in the likes of berries, nuts, seeds, dried and fresh herbs, coffee and tea.

Your morning cup of tea or coffee might be good for more than making you smile.

What’s the best diet for the worst type of fat?

Digging into the benefits of a polyphenol-rich diet, researchers studied three groups of people: one that ate according to standard US dietary guidelines, another that ate a Mediterranean diet with 440mg per day of polyphenols, and a third group that ate a plant-focused Mediterranean diet with almost double the polyphenol intake.

After 18 months, the group with the plant-focused Mediterranean diet had lost more than twice the visceral fat, at 14 percent, compared to the group eating a standard Mediterranean diet. This was despite all groups having the same calorie intake and levels of physical exercise.

How to tap into the power of polyphenols

To help reduce visceral fat – and lower your risk of the health problems it can lead to – aim to get more plant foods with polyphenols onto your plate.

While the exact fat-reduction effects of polyphenols require more study, researchers have suggested it may act on several fronts, including increased fat oxidation, thermogenesis and energy expenditure.

A polyphenol-rich diet could have benefits for your training and recovery, too: “Research shows that polyphenols can help minimize post-exercise pain, improve strength recovery and reduce fatigue,” says our nutrition expert Angie Asche.

A combo of cashew nuts, fresh raspberries and cocoa powder make these home-made chocolate truffles a polyphenol powerhouse.

To up your daily intake of polyphenols, try this:

• Start your day with fresh coffee or green tea. (Not a big coffee drinker? You could have a Chocolate Espresso Smoothie).
• Get nuts and berries into your morning or afternoon snack with Protein Berry Yogurt.
• Artichokes have one of the highest concentrations of polyphenols of all vegetables, so make lunch a Spinach & Artichoke Bruschetta.
• Did we mention cocoa is a great source of polyphenols? That’s a win-win! Make our Chocolate Peanut Butter Bark your next dessert.

Disclaimer: This Centr content is adapted with permission from an article written by Lifespan.io. The content herein represents Centr’s interpretation of the original source material.