Dr Zoe Williams discusses visceral fat on This Morning
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Visceral fat, also known as belly fat, is stored in your abdominal cavity, sharing space with important organs such as your liver, stomach, kidneys, and intestines. This tricky position means having high levels of visceral fat can hike your risk of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, it’s vital to stamp the fatty culprit out.
Whether you use it to add a kick of flavour to your curry or prefer its taste combined with hot milk in a latte, turmeric is a popular spice.
However, the yellow seasoning offers more than a peppery and earthy taste.
From “anti-cancer effects” to “anti-inflammatory” powers, turmeric provides a whole host of health benefits, according to Nuffield Health.
Impressively, many studies have found the spice can reduce the spread of cancer and contribute to the death of cancerous cells.
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What’s more, research also suggests that it could provide a helping hand when trying to shed visceral fat.
While your overall diet plays a crucial role in getting rid of harmful belly fat, supplementing with the yellow ingredient could also help.
A study, published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, found that curcumin supplementation might have “positive” effects on visceral fat.
Curcumin is the active ingredient hidden in turmeric, giving the spice its potent powers.
Interestingly, the research didn’t set out to explore the effects of curcumin on visceral fat but on fatty liver.
The research team wanted to see what the active ingredient can do with body mass index, body weight and waist circumference in patients suffering from this condition.
However, they also noticed that curcumin supplementation might have “positive” effects on visceral fat.
The research consisted of eight controlled trials that looked at 520 participants.
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The prescribed dose of curcumin varied between 70 to 3,000mg a day.
During the period of eight to 12 weeks, the research team noticed a “significant” drop in body mass index and waist circumference.
In case you aren’t aware, a greater waist circumference is considered a marker of visceral fat tissue.
Despite the promising findings, one thing to consider is that the study only focused on patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
However, this isn’t the only study that observed the weight loss benefits of curcumin.
Another research, published in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, found that taking the ingredient two times a day was beneficial for fat loss and reducing belly fat.
What’s more, the researchers reported “very good” tolerability in participants who followed the turmeric protocol.
“Although preliminary, our findings suggest that a bioavailable form of curcumin is well-tolerated and can positively influence weight management in overweight people,” the study added.
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