Exercise or Diet for Belly Fat?

There are two types of ‘belly fat’. The type under our skin (subcutaneous), although maligned, likely holds little to no disease risk. The other type (visceral) hidden deep inside the belly holds high disease risk. It creeps into and around our organs, including our heart. Yikes.

Studies have found that both exercise and dieting (typically restricting calories by 500 per day) help decrease both types of belly fat to about the same degree in adults classified as ‘obese’. However, a recent study suggests that 45 minutes more of exercise per day + a slight caloric restriction following a standard healthy diet could be slightly better at helping lose belly fat under the skin.⁸

Researchers also highlight a few other benefits of exercise to consider:^1-7

1. 4+ Hours/Week: Exercise also appears to work better for both total body fat and belly fat with increasing amount, at least 4 hours per week.
2. Increases Fitness: With exercise, there is also an increase in fitness, which is a key, unique predictor of disease risk, death risk and quality of life.
3. Preserves Muscle: Exercise preserves or increases muscle during weight loss, which is commonly lost with dieting.
4. Prevents Fat Regain: Exercise does much better preventing the regain of the fat than dieting.

Now, we are talking about full-body aerobic and/or resistance exercise, as abdominal specific exercises do not help ‘spot lose’ belly fat., and bananas do not cause belly fat. Both claims have gone 'belly up'.

 References

1. Friedenreich, C. M., Woolcott, C. G., McTiernan, A., Terry, T., Brant, R., Ballard-Barbash, R., ... & Campbell, K. L. (2011). Adiposity changes after a 1-year aerobic exercise intervention among postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Obesity, 35(3), 427.
2. Hunter, G. R., Brock, D. W., Byrne, N. M., Chandler‐Laney, P. C., Del Corral, P., & Gower, B. A. (2010). Exercise training prevents regain of visceral fat for 1 year following weight loss. Obesity, 18(4), 690-695.
3. Irving, B. A., Davis, C. K., Brock, D. W., Weltman, J. Y., Swift, D., Barrett, E. J., ... & Weltman, A. (2008). Effect of exercise training intensity on abdominal visceral fat and body composition. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40(11), 1863.
4. Irwin, M. L., Yasui, Y., Ulrich, C. M., Bowen, D., Rudolph, R. E., Schwartz, R. S., ... & McTiernan, A. (2003). Effect of exercise on total and intra-abdominal body fat in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 289(3), 323-330.
5. Janssen, I., Fortier, A., Hudson, R., & Ross, R. (2002). Effects of an energy-restrictive diet with or without exercise on abdominal fat, intermuscular fat, and metabolic risk factors in obese women. Diabetes Care, 25(3), 431-438.
6. Mayo, M. J., Grantham, J. R., & Balasekaran, G. (2003). Exercise-induced weight loss preferentially reduces abdominal fat. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35(2), 207-213.
7. Park, S. K., Park, J. H., Kwon, Y. C., Kim, H. S., Yoon, M. S., & Park, H. T. (2003). The effect of combined aerobic and resistance exercise training on abdominal fat in obese middle-aged women. Journal of Physiological Anthropology and Applied Human Science, 22(3), 129-135.
8. van Gemert, W. A., Peeters, P. H., May, A. M., Doornbos, A. J., Elias, S. G., van der Palen, J., ... & Monninkhof, E. M. (2019). Effect of diet with or without exercise on abdominal fat in postmenopausal women–a randomised trial. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 174.