Top Belly Fat Diet Foods - What to Eat and Avoid to Reduce Belly Fat

One of the biggest culprits for the deposit of fat around the belly area is cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone the body creates when we are stressed.

Belly Fat, Stress and Cortisol

To understand how stress and cortisol cause body fat, you need to understand how the body evolved. As we evolved, living in the jungle or in the wild, the body developed a way of staying safe. It created a highly advanced mechanism to allow it to survive when animals were chasing us. The system the body developed to keep us safe is called the sympathetic nervous system. The minute we feel threatened or stressed the sympathetic nervous system releases cortisol and adrenaline into the body. This tells the body to:

• Crave carbohydrates - because we will need energy to run away of fight
• Switch off metabolism - to conserve energy for the fight
• Switch off digestion - because we want to conserve energy
• To store fat not burn it - to conserve energy

The problem with this stress switch, is it is controlled by the brain. The brain cannot tell the difference between a real threat and a perceived threat. So when you boss comes in and yells at you, you brain switches on fight or flight and sends out cortisol. Even though you are not really being threatened - as in being chased by a lion.

Cortisol tells the body to store fat - mainly in the belly region so the more stressed you are the more belly fat you will accumulate.

There are a number of things you can do to help the body reduce it belly fat stores.

1. Reduce belly fat by reducing your stress

As mentioned above, stress is responsible for most of your belly fat. Learning stress reduction techniques like mindfulness can help to reduce stress and the body will start melting your belly fat automatically for you.

It is also important to note what you are thinking about while you are eating. If you are stressed about eating you will be storing more belly fat, so choose the foods you love and really love what you are eating and reduce the stress while you are eating. There is a free weight loss course that teaches you how to reduce stress and lose weight.

2. Lose belly fat by Increasing your intake of MUFA's

MUFA's are monounsaturated fats. The body creates enzymes and hormones from fats and the body needs a steady supply of fats to produce these hormones. Part of the reason for storing belly fat is a lack of fats to create the hormones we need to break down the fat. By adding good healthy sources of MUFA's to your diet, you can increase the fat burning capability of the body. Science also shows that MUFA's make us feel full for longer and they reduce hunger levels are a meal. These are also great weight loss benefits.

Good sources of MUFA's include:

• Nuts and seeds
• Peanut Butter
• Olive Oil
• Avocado
• Dark or bitter chocolate

Add a monounsaturated fat item to each meal you eat.

It sounds difficult, but it's actually very easy to do. Nuts and seeds make a great addition to breakfast cereals or salads so add a handful of walnuts or other nuts and seeds that are high in MUFA's to your salad or cereal.

Add an Avocado to your lunch or dinner everyday. I mean who doesn't love a creamy avocado and now you have more than good reason to start enjoying them.

Add a tablespoon of natural peanut butter to sauces. The peanut butter adds a nutty creaminess to the sauce - like a satay and natural peanuts and peanut butter are high in MUFA's.

Use Olive oil on your salads and some of your vegetables. Oilive oil is a great source of MUFA's. By adding a few glugs of Olive oil to your meals you are adding the MUFA's that will allow you to melt away the belly fat.

And for the chocoholics, Dark or bitter chocolate is also high in MUFA's. If you are a chocolate lover, then a few blocks of dark chocolate can help you get those all important MUFA's into your diet.

• Reduce Stress
• Get enough Sleep
• Eat MUFA's with every meal

Stress, sleep and belly fat are also all linked. They can create a vicious cycle if you allow them to. Stress and high cortisol levels can reduce or disturb sleep. Disturbed sleep leads to more stress which means higher cortisol levels. Higher cortisol level cause the body to store fat.

So how do you break the sleep, stress, belly fat cycle?

Firstly you need to try to reduce your stress levels and learn to see stress as a positive thing rather than a threat. If you see situations as challenges or exciting the body reacts differently from when you see situations as a threat. Take some classes in meditation and mindfulness to reduce your stress.

You can also do things to improve your sleep and getting a good night's rest will help to reduce the cycle. To get a good night's rest:

1. Start a routine - go to bed at the same time everynight
2. Drink some cocoa before bed. Cocoa actually improves sleep and relaxation. It is high in antioxidants and will help you sleep better.
3. Have a nice relaxing lavender bath before bed - lavender promotes relaxation and helps to improve sleep.

Visceral fat or abdominal fat is more dangerous than just keeping you off the beach in a bikini. Disorders linked to belly fat deposits include:

• Heart Disease
• Strokes
• Diabetes
• Obesity

And some of these conditions will cost you your life. In fact the factors listed above are all included in the top ten causes of death for our generation.

So don't just think belly fat is a mark on your appearance. Belly fat is a symptom of something going seriously wrong with the body and metabolism. It is an important warning light that you should pay attention to and do something about.

If you are looking for the queen of fat burners, then why not make a decadent chocolate Avocado Mousse for desert. This is absolutely one of my favorite deserts and as a chocoholic, I can promise you you will never believe how good this tastes and how good it is for you.

To make the mousse:

Boil a kettle. Add a leaf of gelatin to half a cup of boiling water and then stir well to dissolve the gelatin. Allow to cool slightly - don't allow it to set.

In the meantime mash an avocado until its smooth. Add a cup of natural yoghurt, a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of cocoa - you can add more for a richer mousse.

Mix the avo,, yoghurt together and then add the gelatin mixture and mix well with a fork

Spoon into dishes and allow to set for about an hour.

Serve chilled.