The 5 Foods To Avoid If You Desire A Chiseled 6 Pack Abs

The 5 Foods To Avoid If You Desire A Chiseled 6 Pack Abs

Carrying a spare fat around your belly? You're not alone: 54 % of U.S. adults now have abdominal obesity, up from 46 % in 2000, according to the latest report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. If you are found in that category (male abs are considered fat if the waist measures more than 40 inches), you need to consider reducing your consumption of these five foods:

1. Refined Grains:

Not sure what a refined grain is? It's an ingredient found in foods like white rice, white bread, and regular white pasta. The unrefined stuff (whole wheat, brown rice and quinoa) is without doubt healthier. 

Pennsylvania State University researchers found that people who ate whole grains in addition to keeping a healthy diet—of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and protein—lost more weight from the abdominal area the group of people who kept the same healthy diet but ate all refined grains.

2. Potato Products:

The foods associated with the greatest weight gain? You guessed it—potato chips, french fries and potatoes. 

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine followed the weight changes of more than 120,000 men and women for up to 20 years. The participants were checked every four years and, on average, they gained 3.35 pounds each time—so almost 17 pounds by the time the study was finished. 

3. Red and Processed Meat:

The same 20-year study found that people who ate more red and processed meat gained weight, too—about one extra pound every four years. In another study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers worked with more than 370,000 people and found that folks who ate the equivalent of a small steak a day gained about five pounds in five years.

4. Diet Soda/Cold-Drinks:

You can get fooled by the zero-calorie label, yet soft drinks made with sugar substitutes are believed by many to play a big role in fat gain. A new study published this month discovered that individuals who drank diet soda gained almost x 3 the amount of abdominal fat over 9 years as those who didn't drink the no-cal stuff. 

Recent research from the Weizmann Institute of Science found that mice consuming water with artificial sweeteners (Saccharin, Aspartame and Sucralose) became susceptible to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance—2 things known to lead to weight gain. 

5. Frosting:

Those cupcakes your coworker makes for special occasions? Yeah, don't eat them. While the FDA has basically declared war on trans fats, store-bought frosting still contains a not-so-healthy dose of the stuff. How bad can trans fats be? Researchers at Wake Forest University gave groups of monkeys two different diets; one group ate trans fats and the other ate unsaturated fats. 

The results: The group eating trans fats upped their body weight by 7.2 % in 6 years and the other only gained 1.8 percent. Not only did the trans fats add new fat, it was also responsible for moving fat from other areas to the belly. Check for trans fat in other foods like pre-made baked goods, snack foods, and frozen pizzas.