6 of the Very Best Foods for Reducing Belly Fat

What's in it: Polyunsaturated fats

The belly-fat connection: Unlike saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats don't pack on pounds around your middle. When researchers asked two groups of people to eat an extra 750 calories per day (if the researchers do a second of this study, we're signing up!) from either polyunsaturated fats or saturated fats, everyone put on some weight, but the saturated fat group gained more in the abdomen, while the polyunsaturated group's weight gain included more muscle mass. (Remember, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. Another way to fight belly fat!) The researchers reported that while saturated fats seem to turn on genes that tell your body to store fat in your stomach area, polyunsaturated fats switch on genes in the same area that actually reduce fat storage.

More ideas of what to eat: Other fatty fish like trout, mackerel and herring.