Do you suffer from stubborn belly fat, that’s nearly impossible to shift no matter how much exercise you do?
Or perhaps you find it hard to follow a healthy diet because you simply feel too hungry and suffer from excessive cravings for sugar and carbs.
If this is the case, then you’re not alone. In fact, statistics show us that more than 1 in 3 adults in the US are considered to be overweight.
The main problem is that visceral fat that surrounds your belly puts a strain on your body, and can raise the risk of having high blood pressure or a heart attack.
Having more belly fat also means that you have some degree of insulin resistance, which can develop into type 2 diabetes if you don’t change your eating habits long-term.
The good news is that there are certain herbs and natural remedies that can help you to burn fat around the belly area, by lowering certain hormones.
In today’s article, we will be exploring 10 of the best herbs, nutrients, and remedies in the world to help burn off belly fat faster.
These actions help me to reach more people with nutrition and health tips. This article is for educational purposes only, so do speak to your doctor if you have any medical concerns.
1. Turmeric & Black Pepper.
One of the most powerful remedies to burn belly fat is turmeric with black pepper. Turmeric is golden colored spice and has been used for over 5000 years in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.
This spice contains a natural ingredient called curcumin, which has been scientifically shown to support weight loss and fat burning by improving the flow of bile from your liver and gallbladder.
This digestive liquid helps break down your body fat whilst you are dieting or exercising, turning it into energy so you feel less hungry.
You can get turmeric in capsules with added black pepper. Taking 2 of these per day helps to lower inflammation in your body, and speed up fat metabolism.
It’s important that you choose a brand that contains black pepper, as this increases the absorption of curcumin by 2000%.
2. Raw Coconut Oil.
The second remedy on our list is raw coconut oil If you have ever tried to lose weight, but haven’t changed your cooking oils you may find it extremely difficult.
Regular vegetable oils like soy, canola, cottonseed, and margarine cause inflammation in your liver and pancreas, making it very hard to lose weight.
However, switching to raw virgin coconut oil will supply medium-chain fats that are easily broken down in the body and provide fuel directly to your cells.
I recommend cooking with raw coconut oil as it has a very high smoke point. MCTs in coconut oil reduce cravings naturally because they directly feed your cells with energy (ketones), making you feel more satisfied and less likely to cheat on your diet.
3. Green Tea.
Green tea is one of the healthiest fat-burning drinks on the planet, especially when it comes to burning stubborn belly fat.
If you often feel lethargic, tired, and lacking energy when you’re following a diet or exercise plan, start drinking 2-3 cups of matcha green tea per day.
The catechins called EGCG in green tea help your cells to burn body fat for fuel at a 16% increased rate.
The subtle amounts of caffeine in green tea also stimulate your nervous system which increases the number of calories you burn throughout the day.
4. Dandelion.
Dandelions are often considered to be a weed, but it turns out that it’s actually an extremely powerful herbs with medicinal properties.
It contains a bitter compound called taraxacum, which stimulates the glands in your digestive system to release digestive juices.
Including bile from the gallbladder, saliva from the mouth, digestive enzymes from the pancreas, and intestinal juices.
These all help you to digest foods that you eat, absorb nutrients, and speed up the fat-burning process.
On a side note, this herb is also loaded with potassium which helps to release trapped fluid retention in the body and lowers inflammation.
5. Cinnamon.
Cinnamon is a delicious spice that you can purchase in powdered form or dried cinnamon sticks. It’s often used for baking and cooking and has a beautiful aroma.
Eating cinnamon helps to lower your blood sugars, and allows fuel to enter your cells better by reducing the need for insulin in the body.
Insulin is the fat-storage hormone, so whenever you want to lose weight, you need to focus on lowering this hormone.
Cinnamon’s powerful anti-oxidant properties help to lower insulin and inflammation so that your body can tap into its fat stores and burn them as a source of fuel.
6. Chromium.
Chromium is a natural trace mineral and nutrient that rapidly helps to balance blood sugars when you’re trying to lose weight.
It’s excellent for anyone with belly fat, insulin resistance, diabetes, or prediabetes. You can take 1000mcg of chromium picolinate every single day to help reduce cravings because it helps your cells to accept fuel making you less hungry.
It also boosts glutathione, the master antioxidant made by your liver, which is important when flushing out toxins that may have been stored in your fat cells.
7. Apple Cider Vinegar.
Taking 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and mixing it in a glass of water before each meal helps to improve digestion and burn off more calories.
Most people over the age of 30 suffer from some type of indigestion, such as GERD bloating or constipation which can lead to weight gain, especially around the stomach.
When you consume apple cider vinegar, It brings the Ph. Level of your stomach acids back down to their normal range between 1-3.
This normal acidity stimulates the release of bile and pancreatic enzymes which help you to absorb more nutrients from your food, burn more fat as fuel, and flush out waste through the colon.
8. Black Seed Oil.
Black seed oil is extracted from Nigella Sativa seeds and has been used in Asia for thousands of years for treating different health problems.
If you wish you can start taking a teaspoon of this in the morning, mixed in a glass of water. You can even add this to your apple cider vinegar drink if you wish.
The active ingredient called thymoquinone has been shown to help activate beta cells in the pancreas to make insulin more sensitive.
This helps reduce the need to store extra body fat and therefore helps in the elimination of fat around the stomach.
Black seed oil is labeled as “the cure of all but death” in some religions, which is fitting as it also has anti-cancer properties.
9. Milk Thistle.
The powerful liver-cleansing herb up next is milk thistle. If you have belly fat, this indicates that you also have a fatty liver.
What happens is, whenever you eat carbohydrates and junk foods your body turns them into blood sugars.
When there is too much sugar in the blood, the liver takes this excess sugar and converts it into fat.
Over time this fat builds up inside the liver, which then starts spilling over into the gut forming visceral and subcutaneous belly fat.
You can take freeze-dried milk thistle 3 times per day to help detoxify your liver and help heal the liver cells from inflammation.
The silymarin compound in milk thistle helps you to lose belly fat by treating the underlying cause which is a fatty liver.
10. Rhodiola.
If you feel stressed, anxious, or tense then you may find it impossible to lose weight. Mental stress and pressures stimulate the release of cortisol from your adrenal glands.
A hormone that can cause you to gain weight, and feel more hungry. Cortisol converts some of your muscles into sugar and fat and commonly causes weight gain around the stomach and cellulite around the legs.
To help manage stress, consider taking Rhodiola daily. This is an adaptogen herb that helps the body adapt to stress by balancing hormones.
After taking this for a few weeks you may notice that you’re getting better sleep, and you find it easier to manage stress with fewer cravings for sugar and junk foods.
Burning Fat At Maximum Potential
Now that you’re aware of some natural remedies that help you to burn fat, I want to share with you a few quickfire tips on how to supercharge your body’s fat-burning potential.
Firstly, you need to know that insulin is the main fat-storage hormone, which you need to bring down if you want to burn off fat.
Cutting back on sugary foods, refined carbohydrates, and all grains will reduce insulin and therefore help your cells to burn fat as fuel.
Switching out refined carbs and eating more healthy fats from avocados, grass-fed butter, raw coconut oil, and olive oil will help you feel energized and satisfied after a meal.
Fasting between meals is important because every time you eat or drink anything with calories you raise insulin, slowing your weight loss down.
Taking long and gentle walks in nature for 1 hour per day will calm down stress hormones and bring in more oxygen through your lungs to further improve fat burning.
Instead of focusing on calories in and calories out, focus on lowering insulin and you will soon notice that you know instinctually when to eat and when you are just emotional eating.
In terms of exercise, high-intensity interval training is the best way to burn fat, build muscle and keep the belly fat off long term.
If you still feel that you’re hungry all the time, make sure that you are getting enough omega-3 fats in your diet from shellfish and seafood like salmon, sardines pasture-raised eggs, and hormone-free red meat.
