How to Get Rid of Belly Fat After 50

Eat a plant-based diet

Dt. Poonam Agrawal recommends eating a healthy, balanced, plant-based diet. “Plant foods rich in monounsaturated fat — avocado and avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, whole Mediterranean olives, and olive tapenade, nuts and nut butter — as part of a healthy balanced diet may help reduce belly fat,” she says. These healthy fats have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce inflammation, two conditions that are also linked to belly fat, she adds.

Pulses, the umbrella term for beans, lentils, peas, and chickpeas, are another important food group, Sass says. “The unique combination of fiber and plant protein found in pulses makes them an excellent food for regulating blood sugar and insulin,” she says. “Pulses have been shown to help reduce body fat, and regular pulses eaters have smaller waist measurements and an over 20 percent lower risk of obesity."

Research has also shown that people who eat whole grains lose more belly fat than those who eat refined grains. “Whole grain-eaters also experienced greater improvements in C-reactive protein, a blood marker for inflammation, which is tied to belly fat,” says Sass, adding that soluble fiber is also key. “One study found that for every 10-gram increase in soluble fiber eaten per day, visceral fat was reduced by almost 4 percent over five years,” Sass says. “Pulses are an excellent source. Other foods that provide soluble fiber include oranges, apples, pears, figs, broccoli, brussels sprouts, sweet potato, oats, and avocado."

Try intermittent fasting

There are many types — from time-restricted eating (limiting your eating window to a certain amount of time per day) to alternate-day fasting, where you limit calories to 500 or 600 two nonconsecutive days a week, to brief continuous fasts, Dt. says. “Intermittent fasting has been shown to help reduce belly fat,” they says. But what you eat when you're not fasting is key to whether you'll lose weight.

My uncle himself follows an intermittent fasting diet and says he's never felt better. He fasts for 20 hours and eats one traditional meal a day during a four-hour window. During his 20-hour fasts, he has what he calls “flat belly meals,” which are essential snacks limited to a mix of high-fiber chia seeds, almond milk, avocado oil, and stevia, a natural sweetener. “These turn off the hunger without breaking the fast,” My uncle says. “The result is you're never hungry, and you lose weight and belly fat.”