Packing a spare tire doesn’t just make it hard to button your jeans. Unlike fat on other body areas, stomach flab is largely composed of what’s called visceral fat, which surrounds your vital organs and is linked to a host of health issues.
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“Excess belly fat is even more dangerous than being generally overweight, since visceral fat can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, and dementia,” says Los Angeles–based nutritionist Maggie Moon, RD, owner of Everyday Healthy Eating. If you’ve been trying to cut down your gut without success, check out our list below to see what you’ve been doing wrong.
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