Eating more fiber could help you lose dangerous “belly fat,” the fat that surrounds vital organs in the belly. Also called visceral fat, belly fat has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other metabolic syndromes.
In one study, people who ate 10 additional grams of insoluble fiber per day – the amount found in one medium pear and one-half cup cooked brown lentils – decreased their visceral fat by 3.7 percent over five years. When study participants ate extra fiber and added 30 minutes of exercise three times a week to their daily routines, visceral fat decreased by 7.4 percent. In contrast, most people put on about four pounds of visceral fat per year.