One of the best ways to reduce your belly fat is neither intensive exercise nor repeated, difficult sets of crunches. Research has shown that doing abdominal exercises 5 times a week for 6 weeks has no effect on waist circumference or the thickness of the subcutaneous abdominal fat layer.

One of the main causes of abdominal fat seems to be cortisol. This hormone is secreted by the adrenocortical glands. It is therefore normally present in the body, but becomes excessive under stress. Cortisol depletes lean muscle mass, leaving abdominal fat intact.

Not only stress, but also exercise that is too intense and too long increases cortisol levels. For this reason, some researchers recommend reducing physical exertion in order to lower cortisol levels. This helps preserve lean muscle mass and reduce excess fat.

There are other keys to reducing abdominal fat.

Sufficient sleep and the regularization of circadian rhythms or the body clock normalize cortisol levels, which can have a real impact on metabolism and weight. A few years ago, researchers at the University of Chicago found that in 2 weeks, people on a light diet who slept 8 1/2 hours lost 55% more fat than people on the same diet who slept only 5 1/2 hours a night.

Deep, slow breathing has also been shown to reduce abdominal fat. Around 20% of fat reduction is linked to muscular exercise and a healthy lifestyle such as getting enough regular sleep or reducing stress, while 80% of excess fat is determined by what we eat.

If your diet contains mainly sugars (fructose) and processed industrial food, your chances of keeping or regaining a flat stomach are really reduced. On the other hand, 2 dietary factors seem essential in this loss of fatty tissue:

• Reduce or eliminate ALL forms of sugar and fructose from the diet, whether refined or all-natural sugar such as agave or honey, as well as all cereals that quickly break down into sugar in the body. Indeed, fructose exerts a most pernicious dietary influence, as it lurks in a multitude of processed foods and beverages. You can avoid this pitfall by eating mainly healthy, home-cooked meals made with natural, organic ingredients.
• Increase the intake of healthy omega-3 unsaturated animal fats (salmon, mackerel, etc. 3 times a week) and reduce the intake of health-damaging saturated animal fats in general.
• Eat foods rich in good vegetable fats, such as avocados or dried fruit (walnuts, almonds, etc.).
• The amount of vegetables and 1/3 of raw food will provide maximum energy and nutrients to the body.
• Elimination of gluten and allergenic foods such as dairy products and cereals.
• Eliminate snacks, appetite suppressants and any other sweets or chocolate bars.
• A natural vitamin C supplement or other active plant ingredients (e.g. glabridin extracted from licorice root) rebalance fat metabolism.