I was wondering, are there specific foods you could eat or should avoid to reduce fat in specific areas in the body - such as love handles and the belly area.

Unfortunately there are no foods that will specifically burn fat in our bodies, and especially not specific fat in specific areas!

There are, however, foods that you should decrease so as to prevent further fat being deposited.  These are the fats, and particularly the saturated fats, fats that are found in animal products (the exception is fish).  Fats contain a lot of energy in a small amount of food, so if you eat a lot of it you may take in unnecessary energy, and this will not help with weight loss.  Saturated fat per se actually causes more insulin to be released from the pancreas which results in fat being deposited and not used.

To allow your body fat to be used and therefore to decrease love handles and belly fat, you need to eat regularly to keep your sugar levels constant.  You can do this by eating small quantities of carbohydrates (starches, fruits, low fat dairy) every 3-4 hours together with some low fat proteins or healthy fats.

Sounds simple, but you may want to chat to your dietician to draw up an eating plan so that you can get the maximum benefits!

Article provided by: The Lean Aubergine Dietetic Services
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