Who isn’t trying to lose that nagging, hard-to-shed belly fat known as visceral fat? Of course, it’s easy to assume a stricter workout routine or aggressively cutting calories yields the best results. However, when it comes to achieving a healthier body and reducing harmful visceral fat, one of the most effective things you can do is the most counterintuitive. It’s resting!
But before we dive into how resting helps reduce visceral fat, let’s talk about what visceral fat is and why it’s so problematic. Visceral fat doesn’t just make your belly bigger. This deep abdominal fat surrounds your internal organs like your liver, stomach and intestines. Unlike subcutaneous fat that sits just beneath the skin, visceral fat can increase the risk of serious health problems. “Excess visceral fat is strongly associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers,” says Johannah Katz, M.A., RD, an Orlando, Florida–based registered dietitian. “Mechanistically, it promotes chronic low-grade inflammation, elevates free fatty acids in circulation and contributes to organ dysfunction.” If that weren’t enough, research also links it to an increased risk of dementia.
But how, exactly, does rest help reduce visceral fat? Read on to learn how more downtime could be the key to losing that stubborn belly fat for good.
How Rest Can Help You Lose Visceral Fat
In a world obsessed with hustle culture, resting may seem counterproductive. But contrary to popular belief, there’s a lot that goes on in your body during downtime, including regulating fat. Here’s how rest works its magic in the fight against visceral fat.
Helps Keep Your Hunger Hormones in Check
Ever noticed how a poor night’s sleep can turn you into a snack-devouring monster the next day? Blame it on your hormones. “Sleep helps balance hormones like leptin and ghrelin, which regulate appetite, preventing overeating,” says Mascha Davis M.P.H., RDN, a registered dietitian and author of Eat Your Vitamins.
When you’re sleep-deprived, ghrelin, known as the “hunger hormone,” increases, making you feel hungrier than usual. Meanwhile, leptin, which sends signals to your brain that you’re full, decreases. The result? You may end up consuming extra calories, which can settle as visceral fat.
This may be one of the reasons that people living with obesity frequently report getting fewer than seven hours of sleep per night. While the magic number is different for everyone, a good goal is seven to nine hours of sleep nightly, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Helps Regulate Your Stress Hormones
Occasional stress is no big deal. But when stress lingers, so do its effects on your body. This may lead to increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. If being anxious wasn’t bad enough, research reveals that increased cortisol levels can also trigger stress eating. This, in turn, may exacerbate weight gain and lead to visceral fat accumulation. ,
But there’s good news, says Davis. Rest may lower cortisol, she explains. Conversely, a lack of sleep may increase cortisol. For instance, one study found that people living with diabetes who had sleep difficulties were more likely to have elevated cortisol levels. So, make de-stressing and getting the rest you need a priority.
Supports Your Workout
Ironically, if you want to crush it at the gym, you might need to occasionally take it easy. Why? Even though exercise is an excellent way to burn visceral fat, overdoing it may leave you too tired and unmotivated to keep up with your exercise routine. So, you may spend more time on the couch if you push too hard than if you exercised moderately or took a day off.
Truth is, rest days, or at least low-intensity recovery days, are essential to keeping your body in balance. When your muscles have had time to recover and repair, you’ll be stronger, more energized and capable of working out more effectively during your next exercise session.
Also, rest doesn’t have to mean lying in bed all day (although we’re not saying no to the occasional lazy Sunday). Light activities like walking, stretching or yoga fall under the “active rest” umbrella and can contribute to your overall fitness goals. These gentle movements keep you engaged and encourage blood flow to your muscles without the strain of a high-intensity workout. Active rest days can also keep you motivated by allowing you to keep moving without risking burnout.
Supports a Healthy Metabolism
Did you know your body burns calories even when you’re asleep? Sleep is when your body engages in critical repair and regeneration processes. It’s also when your body releases growth hormone, which helps break down fat for energy.
In fact, research has found that people whose sleep cycle is out of alignment burn roughly 55 fewer calories per day than people who get regular sleep. That might not sound like much, but over months and years, that can really add up. So, it’s not just a matter of getting enough sleep. It’s also about getting regular, quality sleep.
The Bottom Line
Losing visceral fat isn’t just about eating salads and sweating buckets at the gym. It’s about making sustainable dietary and lifestyle choices. Sometimes, the missing link to less visceral fat is as simple as reading a good book on a hammock, taking a stroll outside instead of pushing through a HIIT class, or even closing your eyes and drifting off into dreamland.
Rest, especially quality sleep, helps regulate your hunger hormones, reduces stress-related fat storage, supports your metabolism and gives you the energy to stay active. That’s why it’s the No. 1 secret weapon in the battle against visceral fat. Plus, rest is free, easy and available to everyone (no gym membership required!). So, the next time someone gives you a hard time for wanting to go to bed early, just tell them you’re working on your health goals!
