Ditch sweet breakfast cereals and fast food to dodge abdominal obesity risks, expert warns

Moderate amounts of visceral fat are essential for maintaining good organ health.

Overabundance of visceral fat, however, results in abdominal obesity and encourages the development of ailments such as non-alcoholic fatty liver, chronic pancreatitis, hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

To shield ourselves from such health consequences, maintaining a healthy diet is crucial. Commenting on this, Dr. Megan Mescher-Cox from Dignity Health St. John's Hospital in California, an expert in obesity and internal medicine, highlighted the importance of cutting out sweet breakfast cereals.

Choosing this high-glycemic product for breakfast deals a double blow to our health. Firstly, it provides us with empty calories offering little nutritional value, and secondly, it triggers a surge in insulin levels, which causes an energy drop about 2 hours after eating. This in turn can result in decreased activity and an urge to reach for something sweet again, pointed out Dr. Mescher-Cox.

Other items that should be scrapped from our daily menu include desserts such as cakes, bars, sweetened shakes, and premade sweet baked goods. Consuming these types of food not only introduces a considerable amount of empty calories into our system, but also harmful trans fats, potentially leading to weight gain, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes.

Frequent consumption of highly processed meat (especially red meat) is also a factor in abdominal obesity and various diseases, including cancer. Fast food items such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, breaded chicken, and other similar meals should also be avoided, as they raise bad LDL cholesterol levels in the blood and lead to excess fat tissue accumulation. In striving to amend our unhealthy habits, it's pivotal we also remember to limit alcohol intake, which, when consumed excessively, can harm our entire body.