Are You Frustrated with Your Stubborn Belly Fat?

October 1, 2010
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

jean don't fitGo from tummy fat to tummy flat with healthy, slimming omega-rich fats.

Is your waistband feeling a little snug? Adding inches in your midsection does more than make it hard to fit into your jeans or zip up that slim skirt.

Belly fat increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, cancer (both breast and colorectal), and gallbladder problems—even if you don’t notice a change on the bathroom scale. Not that abdominal fat isn’t often the first sign of being overweight—it is.

While it may sound counterintuitive, research finds that certain fats—particularly polyunsaturated omega 3s and omega 6s—can cut tummy fat and protect against many of its harmful effects. Several studies in the American Journal of Clinical Research show distinct benefits for conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an omega-6 fat, for instance.

A 36-week randomized, double-masked, crossover trial of postmenopausal women with Type 2 diabetes reports that they not only lost weight with supplemental CLA but also reduced fat, as shown in a significant reduction in their body mass index. Other research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison finds that CLA supplements decreased fat in obese and overweight school age children—increasingly a problem today.

Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:

For three decades I’ve been singing the praises of essential fats as part of a healthy diet. Interestingly, a new study in the Journal of Lipid Research shows that even among people with genetic tendency toward belly fat, which is linked to metabolic syndrome (a precursor of Type 2 diabetes), both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are beneficial.

Even in obese women, omega-3 fish oil supplements reduce cardiovascular and diabetes risks, plus these supplements—taken during weight loss—help reduce dangerous triglyceride levels. In terms of weight-loss alone, individuals who consumed fish oil and walked for 45 minutes three times a week lost up to five pounds more than the control group, according to another study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. And scientists note that fish oil and exercise significantly reduces body fat.

Two Other Slimming Fats
With weight-loss clients, I initially recommend the omega-6 fat, gamma-linoleic acid (GLA), because blood tests find people tend to be most deficient in this essential fat. It helps makes you thin, because GLA also mobilizes metabolically-active brown fat, called the “new obesity treatment” by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Primarily activated by cold, brown fat triggers the body to burn more calories and generate body heat. Overweight people have been found deficient in this fat, and by adulthood, brown fat may be metabolically inactive in many individuals.

To remedy this, adults can take two 90 mg softgels of GLA-90 daily. Not only does this supplement, containing the most balanced form of GLA in black currant oil, promote fat and weight loss, but it also helps keep your skin moist and glowing while relieving inflammation, morning stiffness, and PMS symptoms.

Once you’ve flattened your belly, you’ll want to maintain your new, slimmer middle and ensure that any few pounds that you might add on are regained as muscle rather than fat. Taken as a concentrated dietary supplement, CLA prompts the body to burn stored fat as energy, decreasing overall body fat and helping to balance blood sugar levels.

Whether you’re trying to break through a weight-loss plateau or want to increase fat metabolism and lower cholesterol levels, CLA-1000 can help. Take one softgel three times daily or as recommended by a health care professional—it’s nature’s belly fat fix.

Why is it such a boom to waist watchers? Reporting on a human clinical trial, the Journal of Nutrition found that taking 3,000 mg of CLA daily produced a stunning 20% decrease in body fat—for an average loss of six pounds of body fat per person—without any dietary changes.

Sources:
Fat Flush for Life
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20855566
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20695213
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20200257
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19195867
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17490954
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2728639/?tool=pubmed

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Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

9 Comments

  1. Jennifer

    I’ve read/heard that Omega-6 is linked to an increase in breast cancer. Are these different omega-6s than those?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Karen

    Another question: In “The Ultimate Omega Diet” the imbalance of omega 6 to omega 3 was linked to inflamation when there was more of the omega 6 than a 2:1 ratio. Health benefits supposedly result even when the ratio is 4:1. Our diets in the US are typically 10:1 though. So in order to balance out 3,000 units of omega 6; do we need to take 1500 of omega 3 (flax, chia, fish -oils) to balance it? I like the taste of my mayonaise and my salad dressing – yep they have soybean oil. I need to balance those too. I live alone and making my own means throwing them out most of the time. With time and rancidity issues – I am needing a guideline here to compensate. I prefer the cost of flax seeds to flax oil. No symptoms of thyroid issues so it feels like I am OK on the seeds.

    Reply
  3. Administrator

    Ladies: Not only Omega 6’s are created equal and GLA is an essential fatty acid while CLA is a critical one. So — these cannot be figured in exactly to the ideal ratio – which ALG maintains is 1:1 for most. The “bad” Omega 6s are from corn oil and soybean oil and most margarines so those are off limits completely. GLA is the most deficient omega fat – bar none!!

    Reply
  4. Martine

    I’m confused. Do I take GLA 90 mg? or CLA 1000? or both? When? with food or without.
    This wasn’t clear.
    Thank you.

    Reply
  5. Phyllis

    Dr. Ann,

    What is recommended, taking the GLA-90 first and CLA-1000 later after weight loss, taking both at the same time, or taking either GLA-90 or CLA-1000?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  6. Joel

    Both supplements can be taken throughout the program, they are both helpful for weight loss. The GLA-90 is a must, and the CLA especially if you have 50 lbs. or more to lose.

    Reply
  7. Serial Amber

    Wow and wow!

    Reply
  8. margaret

    How long do i take GLA-90 , before i see results?

    Reply

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