Fat is not always fat
Are you a person who is mostly trim everywhere but your belly area? Does your belly protrude like an apple, also known as 鈥渂eer gut鈥�? Have you tried sit-ups, exercise machines, crash diets, etc., all in a frustrated effort to shrink the belly area with no success?
I have experienced this very issue, and the only information I found was 鈥渕ore exercise and less calories,鈥� the standard mantra of the 鈥渙fficial鈥� exercise science world. Then I was evaluated by a holistic practitioner who assured me, 鈥測ou are not fat.鈥� But鈥hen why do I look down and see my belly area extending further than my chest ?
As some of you know, I ended up on a vegetable juice 鈥渇ast鈥� for 10 days, and I did in fact drop significant weight during and following the fast. My mid-section did shrink significantly as a result, but it was still not quite as tight as I had hoped. I just figured it was time to kick up the exercise, and cut back on any remaining 鈥渏unk鈥� foods. These I defined as candy, cake, and ice cream: all junk-foods to be sure.
Well, of course I felt better, the more I cut out these type of undeniably nutritionally empty food-like products (credit to Michael Pollen for the term). Even with all these monumental achievements of self-control, I still felt my belly area was too thick, even though the scale was continuing to show me at minus 50 pounds compared to the start of my journey. This seemed impossible: to lose so much body weight, yet keep a significant store of fat in the gut alone.
Then I came across an excellent book by a Dr. Eric Berg entitled, 鈥淭he 7 Principles of Fat Burning.鈥� In it was revealed a concept that I had not yet seen explained quite this way: that there is a body type created from a 鈥渓eaking liver,鈥� that essentially results in water filling and surrounding the major organs in the gut. This excess fluid is responsible for the apple shape so typical of the 鈥渂eer gut.鈥� Dr. Berg goes into impressive detail in explaining the biology of it in his book, for those interested. The important concept to take away is that an oversize belly may not be fat. Wow. Have you ever heard that? I haven鈥檛, certainly not that definitively stated.
At the risk of oversimplifying, the origin of this problem is an unbalanced digestive tract as a result of chemicals, drugs, alcohol, poor food choices, and further aggravated by insufficient exercise for the body type. Dr. Berg describes several body types, and suggests specific diet and exercise strategies for each. He calls the 鈥渂eer gut鈥� type a Liver Body Type, because the classic shape of the belly is ultimately a result of a malfunctioning, diseased liver that is leaking fluid, and is overwhelmed doing its intended task. The liver is the body蘑菇视频 cleaning system; if it is overloaded, or if it is unhealthy, the body cannot rid itself of toxins, and it cannot properly digest certain foods, especially animal fats. In fact, when a Liver Body Type eats the wrong foods, the belly bloats up in response. It will typically shrink back down overnight as it slowly recovers from the last assault.
The good news is that the liver can completely heal itself. The bad news is it can take years.
In order for it to heal, we must stop taking in things that harm it.
There is a pretty long list, but refined sugar, alcohol, starches, and chemicals (including hormones and antibiotics typically found in commercial meats and dairy).
If one wishes to heal the liver, he or she must eat 鈥渃lean,鈥� and deliberately attempt to restore gut bacteria.
Typical clean foods are pesticide-free leafy greens and fruits, raw seeds and nuts, unrefined virgin oil (use sparingly), hormone and antibiotic free meat, vegetable sprouts, most vegetables (pesticide free).
There are several good books out on cleaning up the gut, and on cleaning the liver. Some involve clean eating; some involve some sort of 鈥渇ast,鈥� be it water, vegetable juice, or mono-fruit. All have in common eliminating refined sugar, starches, chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones. There are some supplements that may help the process including bile salts, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and herbs such as milk thistle. Apple cider vinegar has been praised for a long time for its healing ability in the gut and digestive organs. There is ample information on this if the reader cares to follow up. It is important to realize that the liver did not get this way overnight by any means: therefore, it will not heal overnight, by any means.
My current strategy is to start my day with a cleansing drink of filtered water, powdered organic greens, fresh squeezed lemon, apple cider vinegar, and cranberry juice 鈥� a recipe I modified from several sources. Then I allow myself fresh fruit, seeds, and some fermented foods such as pickles or sauerkraut because they have probiotics in them. I try to subsist on only these food items until dinner time. If I need to eat earlier, I normally choose a salad with a no-sugar dressing. Again, there are a number of good books with clean-eating recipes for healing the gut and the other digestive organs. There is not time to go into detail in this article, but there are other body types to consider if the liver type is not yours. There are types shaped by hormonal imbalances 鈥� a typical example is women after menopause with extra belly fat hanging over the waist. In this case, there is fat, and it is related to hormonal issues exacerbated by food which contains hormones, especially estrogen. In fact, there is a whole area of study on substances such as the plastic used for bottled water that mimic estrogen, and wreak havoc on the bodies of men and women. I recommend Dr. Berg蘑菇视频 book as a good place to start if you care to look further into these topics. Furthermore, he and others have many videos on these topics on YouTube.
I encourage everyone to take advantage of the access to amazing information not available to previous generations.