Six Facts About Belly Fat

There's an abs diet, a flat-belly diet and a host of other plans out there for getting rid of a paunch. But is there really a specific exercise formula or particular food that can give you Michael Phelps-like abs without swimming eight hours a day?

Not exactly. But there are some foods that hurt more than they help when it comes to turning an apple shape into an hourglass. And as for exercise, the key may be less about which kinds of crunches you choose and more about doing it at all. Rather than buying into a one-size-fits-all program, it's a good idea to take your age and your natural body shape into consideration when devising a targeted diet and exercise plan.

Here, we take some of the most popular belly-fat busting prescriptions and tell you which work and which don't—and why—so you can come up with your own flat-abs strategy.

1. Location, Location, Location. It matters where your fat is stored. Abdominal fat is linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Sorry, apple-shaped people: fab abs are about more than just vanity. Women with waists larger than 34-inches and men with waists larger than 40-inches are at greatest risk of heart disease—especially if their fat is "visceral" and around organs like the liver (instead of being just the jiggly surface variety).

2. Quantity Still Counts. "Cut calories—and lose belly fat," says Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center. "The notion that you're going to eat a specific food and mobilize belly fat, usually it's a bit of a gimmick. [When] 'calories-in' fall below 'calories-out,' you will lose weight."

3. Mother Nature Rules. "The way to get rid of body fat in specific places is to have different parents," says Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington. "You have no control where it goes." While you can't change your genes, you can stay extra vigilant about gaining weight if you know your family tends to be of the apple-shaped variety. And even if belly fat isn't a family legacy, everyone tends to gain weight around the waist as they get older, so you will probably have to work harder to keep that belly flat later in life. That's particularly true for women after menopause.