Reverse Visceral Fat & Chronic Inflammation - Sean O'Mara, MD

[trophy33]

Meat based diet
Sunshine
Sprinting
Fasting
Sauna
Small amounts of fermented foods, used together with meat.

 

[Laodicean60]

Meat based diet
Sunshine
Sprinting
Fasting
Sauna
Small amounts of fermented foods, used together with meat.

So true! We need to educate ourselves about the machine and stop feeding the healthcare Cabal. And it's not in a pill!

 

[timewerx]

I do about all of it.

Meat-based diet of mostly fish atm with small amount of protein-rich vegetables. But most calories come from carbs, from rice and some from bread. No junk, no processed foods. I guess my present diet is similar to the NT staple diet of fish and bread.

2 hrs of sunshine everyday (outdoor inline skating exercise)

Sprinting intervals also from skating. Additionally, I also do strength/resistance training with free weights and calisthenics.

Daily intermittent fasting, eating only two meals per day and doing exercise within the fasting window

Exercising in sauna-like conditions (where I live, heat index is often above 100F due to high humidity from tropical climate and lately exercising up to 120 F heat index).

Fermented foods - although I don't eat fermented foods, my food gets fermented in my gut because I only pass solid waste twice a week. Slow movement of food in the gut helps improve gut health and gut microbiota and allows the body to extract more energy from food, improving efficiency (the opposite of what people wants to achieve - they want inefficient digestive system so they can eat more without gaining weight).

Right now, I'm maintaining weight of 120 lbs. Body fat of 10%

 

[FireDragon76]

I actually monitored my visceral fat levels using an infrared device and I concluded it was a waste of time and money. Visceral fat tends to track along with total body fat, more or less. But if you have to have an objective measurement to go by in making a crude estimate, a tape measure is far simpler and cheaper. Ideally, you want your waistline to be less than half your height.

Losing visceral fat is simply a matter of being in a caloric deficit. Not eating junk food and eating a diet high in fiber will help alot in cutting excess calories out of the diet, and it will be far healthier than trying to rely upon the thermic effects of a high protein diet, which are really quite modest in comparison.

Whether you sprint or engage in walking doesn't really make alot of difference in the end, in terms of weight loss. While sprinting does burn more calories per hour, in reality most people will simply eat more or reduce the amount of overall activity they do in a day in compensation. People should chose a form of exercise that they genuinely enjoy doing and that doesn't cause excessive stress. Excessive stress, including from over-exercise, is detrimental to both body composition and long term health.

 

[trophy33]

I actually monitored my visceral fat levels using an infrared device and I concluded it was a waste of time and money. Visceral fat tends to track along with total body fat, more or less. But if you have to have an objective measurement to go by in making a crude estimate, a tape measure is far simpler and cheaper. Ideally, you want your waistline to be less than half your height.

Losing visceral fat is simply a matter of being in a caloric deficit. Not eating junk food and eating a diet high in fiber will help alot in cutting excess calories out of the diet, and it will be far healthier than trying to rely upon the thermic effects of a high protein diet, which are really quite modest in comparison.

Whether you sprint or engage in walking doesn't really make alot of difference in the end, in terms of weight loss. While sprinting does burn more calories per hour, in reality most people will simply eat more or reduce the amount of overall activity they do in a day in compensation. People should chose a form of exercise that they genuinely enjoy doing and that doesn't cause excessive stress. Excessive stress, including from over-exercise, is detrimental to both body composition and long term health.

Loosing the visceral fat and loosing weight are not the same things. Even anorectic vegans can have extreme visceral fat from high fructose intake.

Or, people can transform their body composition without loosing much weight, because they exchange fat for muscles.

All in all, the visceral fat is a specific issue not necessarily correlating to your overall weight and can even be invisible from the outside look.

 

[FireDragon76]

Loosing the visceral fat and loosing weight are not the same things. Even anorectic vegans can have extreme visceral fat from high fructose intake.

This seems like speculation. I have never heard of a person getting fat eating fruit, quite the opposite. Fruits, next to vegetables, are one of the least calorically dense foods you can eat, and can easily be part of a healthy weight-loss diet.

Or, people can transform their body composition without loosing much weight, because they exchange fat for muscles.

Very unlikely for those that are obese or severely overweight, in the absence of switching to a low calorie diet. And increasing muscle mass will do nothing to improve the fat mass index, which is also an important marker of metabolic health.

A person can only gain so much muscle mass without using anabolic steroids, regardless of how much protein is consumed (many, many fitness influencers on the internet are taking steroids). There are few studies not funded by the supplement industry that show that especially high protein intake actually improve body composition. Mostly it's just an excuse to sell supplements.

 

[trophy33]

This seems like speculation. I have never heard of a person getting fat eating fruit, quite the opposite. Fruits, next to vegetables, are one of the least calorically dense foods you can eat, and can easily be part of a healthy weight-loss diet.

1. Fruit is a signal for the body to eat more, to gain weight; you will not (most probably) get visibly fat from the fruit as such, but you will simply eat more than you would eat without the fruit
2. Fructose can be processed only in liver, if you eat a lot of fructose, your liver will be damaged and full of visceral fat, even though the rest of your body can look lean

 

[FireDragon76]

1. Fruit is a signal for the body to eat more, to gain weight; you will not (most probably) get visibly fat from the fruit as such, but you will simply eat more than you would eat without the fruit
2. Fructose can be processed only in liver, if you eat a lot of fructose, your liver will be damaged and full of visceral fat, even though the rest of your body can look lean

Fruit is mostly water and fiber.

Eating more fruit is associated with weight loss, not weight gain:

Paradoxical Effects of Fruit on Obesity

Obesity is exponentially increasing regardless of its preventable characteristics. The current measures for preventing obesity have failed to address the severity and prevalence of obesity, so alternative approaches based on nutritional and diet changes ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[trophy33]

Fruit is mostly water and fiber.

And a lot of sugar, mostly fructose. Sugar suppresses satiety receptors in brain and is highly addictive.

Seasons with fruit signal the body that the winter is coming so that body should fatten up and prepare for winter. This mechanism is also why fructose (together with salt) is added to basically all processed food, fast food etc - for people to eat more and more of it.

 

[FireDragon76]

And a lot of sugar, mostly fructose. Sugar suppresses satiety receptors in brain and is highly addictive.

Sugar is a kind of carbohydrate fuel, and provides a ready energy source for the muscles of the body to engage in vigorous activity (that's why endurance athletes often use sugar supplements). It's only a problem if it is eaten excessively, and sugary foods are used to substitute for healthier choices like fruits or vegetables.

Anybody that tells you sugar is "addictive" is being overly reductionistic and misleading. Addictive substances are those for which the body has no physiological need.

Seasons with fruit signal the body that the winter is coming so that body should fatten up and prepare for winter.

It sounds like speculations based on a few mechanistic observations and questionable analogies (humans don't hibernate). That study I referenced showed that fruits have phytochemicals that reduce appetite and feed healthy gut bacteria that increase satiety.

 

[trophy33]

Sugar is a kind of carbohydrate fuel. It's only a problem if it is eaten excessively, and sugary foods are used to substitute for healthier choices like fruits or vegetables.

Food is not just energy. Different foods cause different hormonal responses in the body - regarding insulin, cortisol, testosterone and others. Thats why "calories in - calorie out" is a failed concept.

Regarding sugar, our body is not well equipped to deal with it - it poisons red blood cells, damages mitochondria, brain or even supports cancer development.
Not to mention dental cavities, gums inflammation, harmful effects of high or long elevated insulin and of disbalance between insulin and other hormones, diabetes development and over-stimulation of pancreas, brain fog, skin problems, high blood pressure, irregular heart beat, bad sleep, feeling tired during the day, bad regeneration, inflammation, mood swings etc.

The sugar in fruit is the same, but its release is slower due to fiber. On the other hand, fiber in the fruit/veg/grain etc can cause IBS, constipation and is contraindicated in many situations.

Anybody that tells you sugar is "addictive" is being overly reductionistic.

Its highly addictive and everybody who ever ate something sweet can confirm it. Most people cannot stop eating sweets like they cannot stop smoking, there is no real life difference.

It sounds like speculations based on a few mechanistic observations and questionable analogies (humans don't hibernate). That study I referenced showed that fruits have phytochemicals that reduce appetite and feed healthy gut bacteria that increase satiety.

There are studies that are worth a speculation and there are evolutionary explanations that are worth a lot of studies. Clinical practice is basically the only place where nutritional theories can be more or less objectively tried, these days.

Also, everybody can experiment on themselves and see that food is not just "an energy source", but have different effects on body. When I want to gain more fat, I simply eat fruit or more carbohydrates for a week or two.

 

[timewerx]

Food is not just energy. Different foods cause different hormonal responses in the body - regarding insulin, cortisol, testosterone and others. Thats why "calories in - calorie out" is a failed concept.

Regarding sugar, our body is not well equipped to deal with it - it poisons red blood cells, damages mitochondria, brain or even supports cancer development.
Not to mention dental cavities, gums inflammation, harmful effects of high or long elevated insulin and of disbalance between insulin and other hormones, diabetes development and over-stimulation of pancreas, brain fog, skin problems, high blood pressure, irregular heart beat, bad sleep, feeling tired during the day, bad regeneration, inflammation, mood swings etc.

The sugar in fruit is the same, but its release is slower due to fiber. On the other hand, fiber in the fruit/veg/grain etc can cause IBS, constipation and is contraindicated in many situations.


Its highly addictive and everybody who ever ate something sweet can confirm it. Most people cannot stop eating sweets like they cannot stop smoking, there is no real life difference.


There are studies that are worth a speculation and there are evolutionary explanations that are worth a lot of studies. Clinical practice is basically the only place where nutritional theories can be more or less objectively tried, these days.

Also, everybody can experiment on themselves and see that food is not just "an energy source", but have different effects on body. When I want to gain more fat, I simply eat fruit or more carbohydrates for a week or two.

Ironically, all the "bad foods" you mentioned here is part of my diet and I experience NONE of the symptoms you wrote here. I still have the BMI and body % of a professional endurance athlete.

I approach the matter of health objectively and scientifically as well. I'm not gifted physically. Maybe I do now. But I started out same as most people.

You seem quick to blame fruits and vegetables but I found the real cause of these symptoms is something else entirely from experiments I did on myself.

There's a real world outside of published articles and vloggers who are probably paid to promote an industry (many vloggers are). You just have to find for yourself. Experiment.

My diet at present has higher portion of meat that is entirely fish meat and then some fruits and vegetables. None of the symptoms you described.

 

[timewerx]

I actually monitored my visceral fat levels using an infrared device and I concluded it was a waste of time and money. Visceral fat tends to track along with total body fat, more or less. But if you have to have an objective measurement to go by in making a crude estimate, a tape measure is far simpler and cheaper. Ideally, you want your waistline to be less than half your height.

Losing visceral fat is simply a matter of being in a caloric deficit. Not eating junk food and eating a diet high in fiber will help alot in cutting excess calories out of the diet, and it will be far healthier than trying to rely upon the thermic effects of a high protein diet, which are really quite modest in comparison.

Whether you sprint or engage in walking doesn't really make alot of difference in the end, in terms of weight loss. While sprinting does burn more calories per hour, in reality most people will simply eat more or reduce the amount of overall activity they do in a day in compensation. People should chose a form of exercise that they genuinely enjoy doing and that doesn't cause excessive stress. Excessive stress, including from over-exercise, is detrimental to both body composition and long term health.

I go by tape measure too.

Sprinting, I probably won't strongly recommend it. You can skip it, no problem. I only found it ever useful to maximize your V02max which isn't critically important unless you're racing.

There are better, safer, and possibly easier workouts that helps burn even more fat. Slowly walking up a treadmill with a steep incline hands-free , not holding on to a railing an hour a day has way better fat burning potential and carries very little risk of hurting your leg joints (unless you have leg problems to begin with). This may sound hard but is really mostly about doing it at the right posture and muscle recruitment. In other words, technique rather than sheer strength and muscular endurance. Done right, it stays within Zone 2.

You're right about fiber. I found oatmeal the best to stay satiated for longer. Calorie restriction, true, just make sure you're getting enough electrolytes. Not getting enough electrolytes can be problem to those restricting calories. It can cause weakness / fatigue, poor quality sleep, poor recovery, may even trigger hunger (makes it harder to restrict calories), etc.