When it comes to slimming down, diet and exercise immediately seem like the best ways to get the fastest results. Counting calories, monitoring what kinds of food you eat, and targeting fat in particular areas through specialized exercise and workout routines can do wonders and can help you see some serious results. While these lifestyle habits can work wonders in the long run, your drinking habits can help speed up your weight loss goals, or seriously hamper them, especially when it comes to targeting stomach fat.
Everyone has heard about sugary or alcoholic drinks leading to weight gain, but not every beverage stands in the way between you and a flat stomach. The way you drink can change the way your body’s metabolism works and affect fat buildup, particularly around your midsection. Thanks to cutting-edge science, experts have pinpointed a handful of particular drinking habits that effectively help reduce stomach fat, especially when paired with diet and exercise. If you have been working towards developing a flat midsection but have ignored how you drink, make sure you start following these science-approved habits for maximum results.
If you really want to take your fat-burning game to the next level, explore the 5 Drinking Habits for Visceral Fat That Really Work to really cut down on deep-seated stomach fat.
When you want to lose weight and cut down on belly fat, it can’t hurt to start drinking more water. By drinking a few more cups of water on a daily basis, your stomach feels full, preventing overeating. A study published in Obesity (Silver Spring) revealed that participants who drank an extra 17 ounces of water before meals while following a low-calorie diet ended up losing over 40% more weight than those who simply followed a low-calorie diet.
If you want to supercharge your water drinking experience for optimal results, make sure you down cold water. Another piece of research retrieved from the International Journal of Obesity found a link between drinking cold water and extra fat burned. Drinking cold water burns even more fat due to the fact that your body has to warm up the drink, causing extra energy expenditure. The effects of cold water are pretty substantial too. Scientists found that at the high end, fat burning increased by up to 25% for 40 minutes in participants who downed a glass of cold water.
While drinking more cold water can definitely shave off some stomach pounds, you don’t have to abandon every hot drink.
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Nothing helps you wake up in the morning like a hot cup of coffee, and it now looks like a hot cup of joe can help you attain a flat stomach. The fat-burning secret of this drink lies in its caffeine content.
A piece of research published in Clinical Physiological and Functional Imaging revealed that caffeine helps stimulate one’s metabolism, leading to an increased amount of fat-burning. This fact partners well with another study found in Obesity (Silver Spring) that concluded that participants who drank a cup of coffee that contained six milligrams of caffeine ended up consuming fewer calories overall.
While drinking some extra coffee can potentially help you burn abdominal fat, you still need to watch out for One Major Side Effect of Drinking Your Coffee Before Breakfast if you love waking up with your favorite latte.
READ RELATED: 5 Healthy Eating Habits Rachel McAdams Swears By
Like coffee, drinking more green tea can help you burn stomach fat, due to the drink’s caffeine content. Green tea goes a step further than coffee by containing special antioxidants called catechins that pair with caffeine to reduce even more stored fat. A study found in the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal revealed that participants who drank green tea that contained higher concentrations of catechins and caffeine lost up to seven more pounds over a 12-week period compared to those who did not drink green tea.
Another piece of research found in the International Journal of Obesity found that catechins significantly help individuals burn calories, making green tea an excellent choice for those who want to trim off some belly fat. Choosing a green tea with a high amount of these antioxidants, like matcha, also should give you the best results, according to a study in the Journal of Chromatography.
If you want to lose some stomach fat but have a preference for black tea over green tea, have no fear. While green tea contains catechins, black tea contains high amounts of polyphenols, another type of antioxidant that has been proven to significantly reduce weight in obese participants, per a study retrieved from the European Journal of Nutrition. These polyphenols appear naturally in black tea, and you don’t even need to drink caffeinated tea in order to see results.
The antioxidants specifically target stomach weight, making black tea a great drink to really indulge in if you want to decrease your midsection. Another study found in Molecules followed participants over three months and found that those who drank three cups of black tea each day not only lost more fat, but their midsections particularly shrank in size.
Black tea doesn’t just help you cut out some stomach fat. This drink has one major side effect that you just can’t ignore.
If you love a bit of acidity in your drinks, you can’t go wrong by spiking your favorite beverages with a bit of apple cider vinegar. Scientists found that this type of vinegar has the raw potential to decrease fat buildup and stop weight gain in non-human participants, per Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.
Scientists have observed the same phenomena in humans and believe that by adding more apple cider to your drinks, you can help reduce stomach fat. A study in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry found that vinegar in general helped reduce body fat in human participants thanks to the acetic acid contained in the ingredient. Apple cider vinegar contains this acid but goes a step further by slowing down overeating, leading to a reduction of fat overall, per BMC Gastroenterology.
If you need to reduce some midsection weight, start adding a bit of apple cider vinegar to your cups of water, lemonade, or other preferred beverage to potentially see some serious results.
Protein drinks may seem like an unlikely candidate when it comes to cutting belly fat, but don’t ignore these beverages associated with working out. High-protein drinks have the potential to suppress appetites thanks to protein’s ability to trigger a hormone response, while decreasing the hormone that spikes hunger, according to a study from the Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism.
If you want to cut out some stomach weight and make your own protein shake, make sure you use The #1 Best Protein Powder for Weight Loss for maximum results.
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