We all have flabby bits – where do you keep yours and why is it there?
Liver Roll
This is a roll of fat below the bra-line, or just above the stomach. Sometimes referred to as ‘The Beer Gut’.
What can you do about it?
- Reduce substances that will load the liver: alcohol, toxins and non-essential medications.
- Increase ‘bitter’ tasting foods, like broccoli and other green veggies.
- Have a squeezed lemon in water every morning to get your digestion going.
- Avoid processed foods and sugars.
- Visit Whangarei Natural Health if you have IBS symptoms, bloating or other digestion issues.
- Ask me for advice to incorporate specific bitter herbs that support liver detoxification.
The Worry Fat
This fat is stored in the tummy region and the ‘back deck’: – your worrying has fooled your body into believing that it needs to store fat because it is in real danger – linked to excessive cortisol production.
What can you do about it?
- Manage stress levels – for instance through altered perception and diaphragmatic breathing.
- Reduce caffeine.
- Ask us at Whangarei Natural Health about ways to relieve stress, as well as calming nutrients and herbs that may help.
The Sugar Fat
Insulin transports sugars to our cells in the form of glucose. It becomes less able to do this if we consume excess sugar. We store sugar as fat which starts in the tummy region and spreads over the whole body if blood glucose and insulin levels are not managed.
What can you do about it?
- Don’t drink Coca-cola or any other fizzy drinks (even the so called ‘sugar free’ ones).
- Avoid refined sugars in foods (watch out for the ‘hidden sugars’ in packet sauces, ketchups).
- Eat lots of veggies, especially green veg. Try not to consume too many starchy vegetables (kumara, potatoes, taro).
- Exercise every day if it is medically safe for you to do so. See me at Whangarei Natural Health for a personalised exercise programme. Always get medical advice before embarking on any excessive new exercise routine.
- Make an appointment with me at Whangarei Natural Health for a food diary and to get professional, individualised nutritional guidance to lose weight.
It’s gone ‘Pear Shaped’ fat
A woman’s fat issue, this may be due to liver congestion that has caused incomplete breakdown and consequent recycling of oestrogen.
What can you do about it?
- Reduce liver congestion: Avoid toxins, too much alcohol, refined sugars and processed foods.
- Eat lots of bitter veggies, especially broccoli.
- Manage stress levels, as chronic stress can reduce progesterone production and adds to oestrogen dominance.
- Ask me at Whangarei Natural Health for herbs and nutritional supplements to balance oestrogen levels.
See you at the Beach 🙂
Louella, Naturopath, Whangarei Natural Health
