So how do you fix it?
Several supplement companies offer seemingly easy solutions to help burn belly fat. One of the most popular is Relacore. It claims to work by decreasing the body's level of cortisol. That's the stress hormone
Dr. Daniel Monti, director of Jefferson University Hospital's Integrative Medicine, says the ingredients in many of these supplements, such as magnolia bark extract, may in fact induce a calming effect, but whether they really decrease cortisol and whether that leads to weight loss has never been proven.
"It's an incorrect presumption to think that a supplement is going to be the answer," Monti said.
In fact, one of Relacore's former competitors Cortislim agreed to pay a fine to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit in 2007 accusing the company of "making unlawful claims regarding weight loss benefits."
Cortislim was marketed as a "cortisol control weight loss formula."
So if that's not the answer, what is the best way to banish belly fat?
Fitness instructor Ed TenEyck of Philadelphia Sports Clubs says crunches and other ab-work will help tone muscles and strengthen your core, but won't burn belly fat. You see, you can't target where you lose weight; you have work the whole body for any results.
"Nutrition, cardio, weight training and then you will be attacking weight loss from all three angles,"TenEyck said.
Still there are exercises that will help you burn fat the fastest.
Personal trainer Jared Carter says you want to work large muscles groups and several muscles in the same exercise to build more muscle mass
"A lot of people don't realize, but muscle is the actual place where fat gets burned inside your body, so if we increase muscle mass, we create more space to burn more fat," Carter said.
So that means squats and lunges for the lower body and pushups and pull-ups for the upper body.
And there's one more key factor to the weight loss equation: make sure you have regular sleep.
Dr. Monti says not getting enough sleep can lead to hormone imbalance and that can lead to weight gain, especially if you are not eating healthy or exercising.
Also, Action News did call the makers of Relacore, they did not return our calls for comment.
