Visceral fat is the most dangerous form of fatty tissue because it accumulates deep within your belly, wrapping around vital organs such as the lover and intestines.

A visceral fat build-up can therefore encroach on vital bodily processes, triggering markers associated with heart disease, such as high blood sugar and cholesterol.

To ward off the threat of potentially deadly diseases, it is therefore imperative to keep visceral fat in check.

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• How to lose visceral fat: The spice proven to reduce belly fat

Diet plays a pivotal role in reducing the harmful belly fat, although knowing what to eat and avoid can sometimes seem overwhelming to the uninitiated.

Research investigating the fat-burning benefits of specific items suggest that supplementing your diet with whey protein can help to attack the harmful belly fat.

Whey protein is a mixture of proteins isolated from whey, the liquid material created as a by-product of cheese production.

Whey protein powder is one of the most common sporting supplements that people take to maximise the results of exercise.

Research also shows that consuming whey protein with regular exercise may also reduce visceral fat.

According to medical website Livestrong, it also improves insulin resistance, which is a contributing factor to visceral fat gain and diabetes, a complication associated with the belly fat.

Furthermore, the two milk proteins found in whey – lactoferrin and immunoglobulin – protect against obesity and inflammation, says LiveStrong.

The health body explains: “These compounds help balance the friendly bacteria living in your gut, reduce intestinal permeability and promote visceral fat loss.”

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In fact, evidence reveals the extent of the belly fat-burning benefits of combining regular exercise with a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates.

A study published in the Journal of Nutrition compared three groups of overweight and obese, but otherwise healthy, premenopausal women.

Each consumed either low, medium or high amounts of dairy foods coupled with higher or lower amounts of protein and carbohydrates.

The women exercised seven days per week for four months, a routine that included five days of aerobic exercise and two days of circuit weightlifting.

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• How to lose visceral fat: This drink could reduce harmful belly fat

According to the researchers, there were identical total weight losses among the groups, but the higher-protein, high-dairy group experienced greater whole-body fat and abdomen fat losses, greater lean mass gains and greater increases in strength.

The tissue composition, exclusively fat, of the weight the women lost has profound implications for longer-term health, reported the researchers.

“One hundred per cent of the weight lost in the higher-protein, high-dairy group was fat. And the participants gained muscle mass, which is a major change in body composition,” said Andrea Josse, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University.

On top of the muscle mass differences, the higher-protein, high-dairy group lost twice as much belly fat than the lower-protein, low-dairy group.

Commenting on the belly fat loss, Josse said: Fat in the abdomen is thought to be especially bad for cardiovascular and metabolic health, and it seems – according to what we found in this study – increasing calcium and protein in the diet may help to further promote loss of fat from the worst storage area in the body.”

How much exercise do I need to do see results?

According to Harvard Health, the starting point for bringing weight under control, in general, and combating abdominal fat, in particular, is regular moderate-intensity physical activity – at least 30 minutes per day (and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day) to control weight and lose belly fat.

Supporting the findings of the study, the health body recommends incorporating strength training (exercising with weights) into this daily target to help fight abdominal fat.

Although, as the health site points out, spot exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles, but it won’t get rid of visceral fat.

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