🚨 THE BELLY FAT TRAP: You Can’t Burn Fat From Just One Place You can do 100 crunches a day. You can try a “5-minute belly fat workout.” You can drink a special tea every morning. You can even buy a product promising to melt your stomach fat. But there’s a problem: your body doesn’t work that way. When your body needs more energy than it gets from food, it starts using stored energy from your fat reserves. But you don't get to choose where that fat comes from. Your genetics, hormones, biological sex and other factors influence where you store fat and where you lose it first. That means doing endless abdominal exercises can strengthen your stomach muscles, but it doesn't tell your body, “Burn the fat covering these muscles.” And not all belly fat is the same. The fat you can pinch under your skin is called subcutaneous fat. Deeper inside your abdomen is visceral fat, which surrounds important organs. Too much visceral fat is associated with inflammation, insulin resistance and a higher risk of metabolic problems. So what actually works? The answer is much less exciting than the products and shortcuts being sold online: you need to reduce overall body fat. That usually starts with a sustainable calorie deficit — taking in fewer calories than your body uses over time. Regular exercise can help, especially when you combine cardio with strength training. A healthy eating pattern can make it easier to maintain that deficit without constantly feeling hungry. Some people find intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating useful, but these approaches aren't magic. They mainly help when they make it easier to control overall calorie intake. And there is no need to live on an extreme diet. A simple approach still holds up remarkably well: eat mostly whole foods, include plenty of plant foods, limit highly processed foods, and avoid trans fats. The biggest secret about losing belly fat is actually this: You can't command your body to burn fat from your stomach. You can only create the conditions that make your body use stored fat — and then let biology decide where it comes from. So the next time someone promises to “melt belly fat” with one exercise, one drink, or one supplement, remember: your body has never agreed to that deal. Source: Dumbell, R. (2026), Here’s the only science-backed way to lose belly fat, BBC Science Focus Magazine.