Exercise away belly fat

Nutrition Action Healthletter, Nov, 2006

What's the best way to lose belly fat? Exercise and diet may work better than cutting the same number of calories by diet alone.

Researchers assigned 45 sedentary obese women aged 50 to 70 to either a low-calorie diet or the same diet plus either high- or low-intensity exercise. Both exercise groups walked on a treadmill three days a week. However, the low-intensity group walked for 55 minutes at a slower speed (1 to 2 miles per hour), while the high-intensity group walked for 30 minutes at a faster speed (3 to 4 miles per hour).

After 20 weeks, all three groups had lost about the same weight (19 to 24 pounds). However, abdominal fat cells shrunk only in the two exercise groups.

And losing belly fat doesn't just slim your midriff. Belly fat raises the risk of diabetes and heart disease more than fat on hips, thighs, or elsewhere.

What to do: If you're overweight, cutting calories and exercising are critical. These women burned only about 60 calories a day on the treadmill, but it was enough to shrink their fat cells. Other studies show that exercise can cut the risk of diabetes even if you don't lose a pound.

Inter. J. Obesity 30: 1211, 2006.