Healthy Foods That Cause Belly Fat
What’s your waist-to-hip ratio? We often see this number thrown about in relation to what ratio is most attractive to the opposite sex. But it’s relevant for a much more important reason.
Even if you’re not overweight, collecting more weight around your middle can spell trouble. In general, a thicker waist can indicate a higher risk of heart disease, among other illnesses.
Health organizations recommend that a woman’s waist size should remain under 35 inches for better health and longevity. Meanwhile, men should remain under 40 inches.
As for the waist-to-hip ratio, women should strive to keep it below .85, while men should be under .9. Confused? You can calculate your ratio here.
Bottom line: fat
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And time and time again, studies demonstrate that HFCS makes us gain weight more than regular sugar.
It can be difficult to eliminate, as an estimated 40% of foods produced with a sweetener use HFCS. But if you want to get rid of belly fat, it’s essential to read labels and limit or avoid it.
Where it’s hiding: If you lay off the soda and cookies, you’re good, right? Nope. Yogurt, salad dressing, cereal, juice, applesauce, protein bars, and more can contain HFCS. Even if it says “natural” or something to the effect of “healthy” on the packaging.
Trans Fats. You’ll find trans fats in items that contain partially hydrogenated oils. Trans fats are an excellent example of how things can go wrong even when you have the best intentions. For many years, the ill effects of trans fats were largely unknown.
The founder of trans fats, Wilhelm Normann, actually made food more accessible when he created them over 100 years ago. Partially hydrogenated oils made foods last longer, and it was cheaper than animal-sourced lard and tallow.
However, the truth is that trans fats and partially hydrogenated oils are among the very worst modern inventions. This isn’t opinion; even the FDA has plans to “phase” it out of our food supply by next year. Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long.
Why? Because it causes heart attacks, plain and simple. The Harvard School of Public Health estimates that eliminating trans fats can prevent 1 in 5 heart attack deaths!
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is an inexpensive syrup created by changing about half of the particles comprising corn starch into fructose. Due to the cheapness of HFCS it has replaced natural sugars in most of the food consumed in America. Resulting in HFCS being found in just about all processed foods made today. Consuming any kind of sweetener has shown to greatly increase the chances of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome (Zeratsky, 2015). Since the invention of HFCS American obesity rates went from fifteen percent of the population to around one third of the population suggesting a strong
We eat every day, rarely thinking about what’s going into our bodies. Take soda, for example, when was the last time you read the label before taking a sip? For me, it is never. One of the first ingredients listed on the can is HFCS or high fructose corn syrup. This ingredient is a secret additive to many products in today's market. High Fructose Corn Syrup is one of the cheapest to make and hardest to get rid of in the body. Since its introduction to food products in the 70's it has slowly been added to most foods, even ketchup.
People often debate a comparison of high fructose corn syrup and sugar. Seems to be more an act of stupidity than well-founded debate. Regarding your health processed foods are evil, and at the top of the list sits H.F.C.S. Excess consumption is linked to obesity, diabetes, premature aging and excess abdominal fat among other things.
“High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), it is harmful!” My friends said. “We should stay away from HFCS.” When we had a lunch in a fast food restaurant, my friend picked up a packet of ketchup, HFCS is the first ingredient in its recipe. Meanwhile, another friend picked up a can of Coke, HFCS still appeared. Similarly, when I picked up a packet of sweet sauce, HFCS was still there. Almost everything included HFCS, which is the first ingredient in their recipe. HFCS appears everywhere. It seems that HFCS nowadays takes over almost kinds of foods and drinks.
Thus by consuming products with HFCS the body neglects to regulate body weight resulting in most often a higher caloric intake and eventually in prolonged weight gain. The lack of insulin and the unbalance of hormones essentially trick our bodies into wanting to eat more, while at the same time storing more fat.
Did you know that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) accounts for over half of the artificial sweeteners used in the United States today? Although it is loved by big food companies due to its extended shelf life and cheap production, is it the healthiest option for the consumer? This is a widespread question that has been asked in the United States since the invention of HFCS in the 1960s. This artificial sweetener is rumored to increase one's chances of obesity, high cholesterol, etc. Due to the health risks linked to HFCS it is adamant that people in the United States greatly reduce the intake of this sweetener. This can be accomplished with three solutions, being, by simply raising general awareness about the health risks associated with HFCS, having stricter regulations on artificial sweeteners, or by lowering the tariffs on imported natural sugar.
Obesity is contributed by the consumption of more calories than are expended as well as type II diabetes, which are linked to obesity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture data indicates that consumption of HFCS has been decreasing, while obesity and diabetes are rising. Other studies indicate that many other parts of the world that do not have access to HFCS and are still seeing a rise in obesity (“About High Fructose Corn Syrup,” 2016).
It todays society, health problems are becoming the norm.”Adult obesity rates now exceed 35 percent in four states, 30 percent in 25 states and are above 20 percent in all states”(Trust for America 's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Some of these major health problems can be prevented such as some diabetes, obesity that is not genetically inherited, as well as a reduced insulin production. To do this we need to start by looking at the foods that we eat, as well as the FDA’s food standards. High Fructose Corn Syrup is in almost every processed food out there. This additive has replaced cane sugar because it is cheaper and easier to produce, even though is poses commonly know health risks like liver failure, obesity, and a reduced insulin production, and lesser known concerns such as mercury that are not spoken of that often. The federal government needs to get rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup in our processed foods because of the known health risks in both the production and consumption.
As Americans we are certainly used to opening our kitchen cabinets and having it be filled with endless food choices. To say the least, we are certainly blessed as a country to be able to have a wide variety. Although the choices are endless, unlike other countries, we are unsure of the additives that are being put into our foods. One specific food additive that is constantly seen in our labels is High Fructose Corn Syrup. High Fructose Corn Syrup can be defined as a cheap sweetener that is made from corn starch in which it is processed by glucose isomerase. This specific additive is currently apart of the top eleven most controversial food additives. High Fructose Corn Syrup, is being blamed for the obesity epidemic in the United States of America. I am here to prove through research and personal findings, that this is an additive that we most avoid.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a popular sweetener used that hides in anything from ketchup, yogurts, and a variety of beverages. High fructose corn syrup unlike the other sweeteners provides calories. High fructose corn syrup is made from glucose that is initially from corn. It is widely popular to manufacturers because of it equality in sweetness to table sugar, it blends well with foods, has a good shelf life, and is less expensive. There are two main types of high fructose corn syrup. The first one is HFCS-55, this is popularly found mostly in sodas and contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose. The second on is HFCS-42, widely found in desserts, canned fruit syrups, and baked goods (Lakhan 5) . It contains 42% fructose and 58% glucose. Normal sugar as well contains fructose and glucose. It is made of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. And both High fructose corn syrup and sugar contain 4 calories per gram. So, what is the difference? In normal sugar (sucrose) the bond between fructose and glucose are chemically bonded and the body needs to digest sucrose to break the chemical bond before the body can absorb the fructose and glucose into the bloodstream. High fructose corn syrup on the other hand are just blended together which concludes that it does not need to be digested before it goes through the metabolic system and is absorbed into the bloodstream. HFCS became popular in the food industry in the late 1970s, right when obesity increased in many Americans.
Another thing about HFCS people would miss were it not for the Sociological Imagination is the political and economic influences it carries. Those that profit from HFCS fight for it to remain in use and in his article Peretti points out that “there was a huge financial gain to be made by fingering fat, not sugar, as the culprit of heart disease.” The companies that gain income from HFCS try to get any bad publicity away from it, because they look at their profit margins and not at the people it affects and how it affects them. People with low income often resort to cheaper foods that tend to have larger quantities of HFCS in them. I am one such person because I try to get a bargain when I can, and often times the products I bought had large quantities of HFCS.
Many concerns have been raised about potential health problems of HFCS. But there is insufficient evidence to say that HFCS is less healthy than other types of sweeteners. HFCS is a corn-based sweetener and because of its low cost, it is used widely in candies, baked goods, and soft drinks. In general, Americans consume too much soda and other sugary beverages. In conclusion, I believe over consumption of added sugar of all kinds, not just HFCS, is bad and can contribute to weight gain and other related health
By purging every possible gram of fat from our diet in favor of carbohydrates, we have eliminated one of the most important nutrients required for our health. For decades, saturated fat has been maligned as the most villainous fat of all, purportedly being deposited inside our arteries almost instantly after eating.
According to WebMD, the fact that visceral fat originates in the orifices within the body, the absence of a substantial amount of visible fat can give a person a false sense of security as far as their health is concerned. What makes this even scarier is the fact that by the time a person recognizes that they have belly fat, it will have been accumulating for some time.
Excess belly fat negatively affects your appearance and can jeopardize your health, since it's linked to health conditions, such as heart disease and type-2 diabetes. (See References 1) Spot reducing belly fat doesn't work; the only way to slim your midsection, is by losing weight from your entire body. (See References 2) In addition to a sensible diet, exercise can help you accomplish this. Even when you can't get to the gym, you can still exercise while watching TV.