Stubborn belly fat? Give up the pop!

Forget situps, crunches and planks if you're struggling to flatten your tummy. Seems that diet fizzy addiction could be linked to high levels of abdominal fat. What's more, drinking too much diet soda raises your risk of stroke and heart attack.

While nicotine, booze and chocolates top many people's vice lists, Pepsi Max truly tops mine. So the goal this week must be kerb my habit to just one 8 oz glass a day by increasing my water intake. I've done it in the past - quite successfully I might add - but it's my one indulgence in a sea of low fatty, low sugary - ness.

Is low fat making you fat? The problem with fat replacements

Researchers at Purdue University recommend that people who want to lose weight might also want to lose the fat substitutes - like Olestra - from their diets

In the study, rats were given either regular full fat crisps or a fat-free version made with Olestra - a calorie-free synthetic fat.

Surprisingly, the rats who ate fat-free were in a for a surprise on weigh-in day.  "They actually ended up gaining more weight,” said the head of the study, Purdue Professor of Psychological Sciences Susan Swithers.

She suggests that weight gain happens because these substitutes confuse the body... and its ability to estimate how many calories are taken in. This directly impacts your body's notion of appetite and its ability to regulate intakes.
She explains:"After an experience with Olestra, that cue no longer predicts a lot of calories all the time so we might over eat the next time we get fat that has calories."

Rather than choose low fat, she suggests that "reducing portion sizes and paying attention to how many calories we're consuming is a better way to go.”

Atkins vs. Low Fat

Researchers at Temple University have pitted the at-times contraversial Atkins Diet against a standard low-fat diet. And the winner? Each generates the same level of weight loss. While Atkins was praised for its ability to raise HDL cholesterol, researchers pointed out that this benefit came with a number of nasty side effects (e.g. meat breath).

To me, it seem that whatever way you look at it, the dieter wins. Studies like this illustrate the point that restricting your diet in any way will see results on the scale. The challenge, of course, is sticking to it. 

In my world of diet, the weight is slowly coming off. I've been successfully avoiding sugary snacks, crisps and generally anything which would have made me go 'mmmm'. I weigh in tomorrow, so I'll post my numbers then.