Knowing that a fat belly increases cancer risk is just half the battle won; you now need to know the best ways to get rid of stubborn belly fat.
Cancer Doesn’t Care if You’re “Body Positive”
Fat releases a kind of protein that can cause a normal cell to transform into cancer.
Subcutaneous (just under the skin) stomach fat isn’t as likely to cause this change than is deeper fat in the gut.
A study out of Michigan State University says that body mass index (BMI) may not be the best indicator of midsection fat.
BMI doesn’t distinguish among location of excess fat.
Two Layers of Fat in the Stomach
- The top layer is the subcutaneous fat.
- Beneath that is visceral fat, the more dangerous kind.
In the mouse study, visceral fat produced more of the protein, called fibroblast growth factor-2, when compared to mice with just the subcutaneous fat.
What About People?
The researchers collected visceral fat from women who underwent hysterectomies.
They transferred this visceral fat tissue into mice. The fat tissue that had more of the FGF2 protein caused more cells in the mice to become cancerous.
This result is really something to think about — namely, do what you can if there’s even the slightest chance it can reduce your risk of cancer.
And that includes losing excess belly fat.
Mistakes that Prevent Losing Belly Blubber
- Holding onto the treadmill
- Doing only long duration, paced aerobics
- Lifting only light weight loads
- Worse — not even doing any strength training at all
- Focusing on isolation exercises like crunches and arm curls rather than big compound moves that involve barbells or multiple muscle groups at once.
- Eating mostly processed food
How to Get Rid of “Stubborn” Belly Fat
- Get your hands off the treadmill. Here are 10 reasons never to hold on.
- Employ high intensity interval training (HIIT).
- Lift weights: heavy and intensely, and focus on leg, back and chest exercises.
- Eat processed food only sparingly. I’ll admit, it’s difficult to go through life entirely avoiding Cinnamonsters, chocolate cake and nachos. But if you must eat processed, high calorie foods, do so occasionally and within a few hours of a hardcore gym workout when your metabolism is most elevated.
Losing Weight in Middle Age and Keeping It Off Greatly Benefits Overall Health
Researchers at the University of Helsinki conducted a long-term study involving 23,000 participants from Finland and the UK, all between 30 and 50 at the start.
Over a follow-up period spanning 12 to 35 years, the study observed that overweight men and women who shed an average of 6.5% of their body weight during early middle age and maintained that loss experienced notable health improvements.
Sustaining weight loss appeared to be a key factor in these benefits.
Professor Timo Strandberg, who led the research, says in the report that, while lifestyle-based weight control is often promoted, it’s been challenging to clearly demonstrate long-term health benefits aside from diabetes prevention.
These findings should encourage people to adopt healthier habits instead of believing they’re “not young enough” for this to make much of a difference.
The findings appeared in JAMA Network Open (2025), a journal by the American Medical Association.
