Brief Summary
Dr. Shan O'Mara shares key rules for reducing visceral fat and living longer. He highlights the importance of avoiding processed foods, alcohol, poor sleep, stress, and excessive endurance exercise. He advocates for a meat-centric diet combined with fermented foods, high-intensity exercise, sunshine, sauna use, and strategic fasting to improve overall health and reverse disease processes. The key is to find the right balance and intensity for your body, paying attention to how you feel and adjusting accordingly.
- Avoid processed foods, alcohol, poor sleep and stress.
- Eat a meat-centric diet with fermented foods.
- Incorporate high-intensity exercise and sunshine.
- Use sauna and strategic fasting.
Intro
Dr. Shan O'Mara, known as the visceral fat doctor, discusses golden rules for reducing visceral belly fat and promoting longevity. He outlines five things to avoid and five things to incorporate into your lifestyle to achieve these goals. The focus is on practical, actionable steps that anyone can implement to improve their health.
Limit or Avoid These
Dr. O'Mara identifies five key factors that contribute to visceral fat accumulation. These include processed foods (especially processed carbohydrates), alcohol consumption, poor sleep quality, high stress levels, and excessive endurance exercise. He emphasises that reducing or eliminating these factors can significantly decrease visceral fat. The more you cut them out, the less they contribute to visceral fat.
Whole Food & Meat-Centric
Dr. O'Mara recommends eating clean, starting with a meat-centric diet. He stresses that not all meat is the same; the healthier the animal, the more beneficial it is. He notes that individuals on carbohydrate-centric diets, such as vegetarians and vegans, often have higher levels of visceral fat. Carnivores tend to have lower amounts, but it takes time for dietary strategies to impact visceral fat levels.
Fermented Foods
Dr. O'Mara advocates combining meat consumption with fermented foods, promoting what he calls a "living carnivore diet". He argues that our ancestors consumed animals that were alive and drank water containing microbes, exposing them to beneficial living organisms. Today's carnivore diet often lacks these microbes, so incorporating fermented and probiotic foods is essential for optimal health.
Thrive
Thomas promotes Thrive Market as a convenient way to shop for quality foods that align with specific dietary needs. Thrive Market focuses on sustainability and quality, making it easier to find trustworthy ingredients and avoid unhealthy additives. It offers a variety of options and delivers groceries directly to your doorstep.
Max Intensity Exercise
Dr. O'Mara recommends infrequent but intense exercise, such as pull-ups, push-ups, dips to failure, and sprinting. He suggests that these activities provide beneficial stress that strengthens the body. He personally exercises for about 15 minutes every three days, mixing up the routine to avoid adaptation. Nature favours variety, so it's important not to do the same thing all the time.
Sunshine
Dr. O'Mara highlights the underappreciated benefits of sunshine, particularly its role in improving nitric oxide production. He suggests checking skin turgor before and after sun exposure to visually confirm the improvement in blood flow. Sunshine is essential for overall health and well-being.
Sauna/Heat Therapy
Dr. O'Mara recommends using a dry Finnish sauna to improve nitric oxide production and heat shock protein synthesis. He suggests 15 to 20 minutes at around 175 degrees Fahrenheit. He prefers natural heat over infrared saunas, as he believes the latter may penetrate too deeply without the body's natural protection.
Fasting
Dr. O'Mara emphasises the superpowers of fasting, particularly its role in promoting autophagy. Autophagy is a disease-reversing process that is activated when the body takes a break from eating. Fasting optimises the body and helps reverse disease processes.
Dosing Fasting, Sauna & Intense Exercise Appropriately
Dr. O'Mara and Thomas discuss the importance of appropriately dosing stressors like fasting, sauna use, and intense exercise. They suggest emulating ancestral lifestyles by incorporating these practices into daily routines. Visceral fat is seen as a disease state of modern man, resulting from lifestyles conducive to chronic disease. The key is to find a healthy balance and avoid excessive comfort and pleasure.
Where to Find More of Dr. O'Mara
Dr. O'Mara shares his website addresses (drnom.com and growingbetter.com) and social media handles for those interested in learning more. He is active on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube under the handle "drnom".
