Nutrition Made Simple! - 2026-08-02
The Science-backed 4-Step System to Slash Visceral Fat FAST
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Online Calculator
https://www.lih.lu/en/visceral-fat-calculator/
RS2
The product used in the trial is High-Amylose Maize Starch (Hi-Maize® 260 from Ingredion), a clinical-grade Resistant Starch Type 2 (RS2). It´s usually sold in bulk (50lb bags) for industrial food processing but a convenient alternative source of RS2 is unmodified Raw Potato Starch (such as Bob's Red Mill). It is widely available in grocery stores.
https://pt.iherb.com/pr/bob-s-red-mill-potato-starch-unmodified-gluten-free-22-oz-623-g/89493
In fact, potato starch is more concentrated in RS2 than corn starch. You can get 40g of RS2 (the dose used in the trial) from ~53g of potato starch (4.5 to 5 level tablespoons or just under 1/3 cup).
Important: Keep it cold/uncooked or cook at low temp (below 140°F (60°C)). Heat destroys the RS2 structure, converting it into fast-digesting glucose. Mix it into cold water, milk, or a smoothie.
Start Slow: Begin with 1 tablespoon daily (~8g of active RS2) and gradually scale up over 3 to 4 weeks to allow your gut microbiome time to adapt without causing temporary bloating or gas.
Matcha brands:
https://matchatherapy.com/en-eu/products/matchatherapy90
https://www.gotmatcha.com/pages/current-matcha-analysis
Peak Heart Rate Info
In High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Peak Heart Rate is the highest number of beats per minute (bpm) your heart reaches during an intense burst of exercise.
The simplest formula is:
Peak Heart Rate = 220 - Your Age
Example for a 50-year-old: 220 - 50 = 170 bpm
The trial covered in the video reports that over 90% peak HR was less effective than under 90%. For a 50 year old this would mean staying under 153bpm rather than over 153bpm.
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References:
Measuring Visceral Fat
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.20033
Cocktail & other drinks
https://gut.bmj.com/content/70/11/2085
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22205311
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/37385
Resistant Starch
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(23)00297-8https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6426958/
Good carbs vs bad carbs
https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(22)00322-3/fulltext
Protein
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/liv.14596
Fats
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-020-00778-1https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/effects-of-replacing-ghee-with-rapeseed-oil-on-liver-steatosis-and-enzymes-lipid-profile-insulin-resistance-and-anthropometric-measurements-in-patients-with-nonalcoholic-fatty-liver-disease-a-randomized-controlled-clinical-trial/9EE45F2B72761228E6DD2BE5FCB8B50A
Workout
https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article-abstract/20/3/385/22179/Mobilization-of-Visceral-Adipose-Tissue-Related-to
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2011.00931.x
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-017-0807-y
Rest
https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.01.038
Disclaimer: The contents of this video are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor to replace medical care. The information presented herein is accurate and conforms to the available scientific evidence to the best of the author's knowledge as of the time of posting. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding any medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of information contained in Nutrition Made Simple!.
#NutritionMadeSimple #GilCarvalho
0:00 Simple System to Cut Visceral Fat
1:52 What gets measured gets done
4:00 Speeding up Results
9:22 Best & worst carbs
13:14 Best & worst proteins
14:14 Best & worst fats
17:23 Best & worst workouts
21:16 Best & worst rest habits
It feels like no matter what health outcome we cover; it always goes back to the same foods being the best.
Whole foods.
Yes. Whole foods, mostly plants
@k.h.6991no
Yep. It all boils down to Michael Pollan’s famous quote “eat food (by which he means whole foods as unprocessed as possible). Not too much. Mostly plants”. And it’s honestly it’s not much more complicated than that.
@dragonmummy1it is complicated because the food, mostly plants don’t feel satisfied for lot of us, who are used to junk foods, it’s a vicious cycle , our lives are so busy, we just can’t take a month off just to set our taste buds , back to a natural plants tasting.
When you look at multi national food companies and their revenues, they go higher every year, and people dying from heart disease and cancer go higher every year.
For dark chocolate, the "Dutch process" to remove flavanoids is also called "treated with alkali". Flavanoids, while good for you, add the characteristic bitterness to dark chocolate, so candy makers like to remove them.
The bitterness is the good part!
@neilford99 I agree. My preference is 85%, non-dutched chocolate. Barely enough sugar to take the edge off the bitterness, but still a slight bitterness left.
@neilford99 Preach!
Heavy metals can be an issue with chocolate also.
@carlr2837 Which brand of 85%, non-dutched chocolate do you use?
Green bananas have rs2 resistant starch. I love green bananas. I've been listening to all your videos on visceral fat and healthy foods and following it eating beans, lentils, less meat, vegetables and fruits, oats and grains, less to no sugar, and watching the saturated fat on the nutrition label, eating nuts and only healthy oils of olive, canola and avacado. I had a high LP(a) so it's inherited and I have had high LDL since 2013 or longer. It was 169 last year in December, so I began this in December 2025. My Apo B was 110. I actually lost 10 pounds and still kept it off but only got my Apo B to 100. I started off at 140 lbs and now weigh 130. I did bring my overall cholesterol to almost normal. I'm still working on it and will probably go on statins in December since I can't get it down much more.
Don't drink your matcha or green tea within an hour of eating, or it significantly decreases your iron absorption*
If you're biologically female and of menstruating age.
lol
same for milk, cheese, any caffeine, greens.
*non-heme iron sources are significantly more affected as the absorption pathway is different than heme sources. Depending on the person though this is a valid/good point you made.
@THEUPSTAIRS100Why lol? It's true.
Thanks Gil. Plenty of great, evidence based suggestions to attack the visceral fat. So helpful 👍.
A couple of squares.....always the issue. Lol.
Same here! 😂
🤣
I dunno. I've been doing all these things for over 3 months and my waistline is barely changing. I take potato starch, green tea and green tea extract, oatmeal every morning and beta glucan supplements, fish, nuts, berries, homemade kefir and on and on. I took up running every day, sometimes longer distances and sometimes HIIT, and I walk in the evening. I average 20k steps a day. I've lost 20 lbs while gaining probably over 5 lbs of muscle.
Could be I still have a lot of subcutaneuous fat around the belly and my visceral fat is reduced. My last DEXA scan showed ~3 lbs of visceral fat. We'll see in another 3 months how much it's dropped. To be clear, I'm glad I'm doing it. I feel and look much better. I'm sure I'll get there. But for some of us, it's a long term process.
Depending on how old you are what you are describing for three months could be decent results ;)
What sort of potato starch are you buying? It needs to be "unmodified" or "raw" apparently.
Also, you need a lot of it. About 6-8 level tablespoons a day.
And congratulations on your progress so far!
I would cut out oatmeal and be careful of workouts. Not sure your age but it sounds like you may need to address cortisol. HIIT workouts can spike cortisol which has its own receptors in visceral/belly fat. It’s also very tricky to address. Good sleep is huge and managing stress or getting to an overall safe feeling with life is important. Sounds like you’ve got some good routines going so keep at it!
This sounds amazing!! don't be discourage by the lack of progress in one area. it sound like you're doing great! I'd love an update in 3 months!!
I don’t think he mentioned that in the direct-plus study that not only was the weight loss similar between groups, but there wasn’t a difference in waist circumference —even though the polyphenol group still lost more visceral fat. So don’t get discouraged—hopefully you will see some progress on your next DEXA.
I have swapped to Fermented Cacao nibs for my square of dark chocolate. OMG I love them. They do have a caffeine/theobromine component so you have to be somewhat sparingly and cut them off in the afternoon because it would be like eating coffee beans too close to bed. So I stop nibbling them at 4 PM 😢😊
The visual of the plate was very helpful! Also the video editing is excellent (like the content always is)
I eat 85-99% cocoa and I love it🍫🇺🇸
I have had great success by eating pot barley, buckwheat and quinoa instead of breads and pasta and rice.
Thank you for the links and also adding on how much to use of the potato starch in the video description
You forgot allulose. No calories, no effect on blood sugar or insulin. Absolutely natural. 10 grams (about a tbsp in a drink) with a carbohydrate included meal dramatically cuts the post prandial glucose spike. Allulose also reduces uric acid.
Thank you for the picture of an example of a "good" meal. Most of the time, we need some clear example. It's easier after that to change it accordingly to our objectives.
I’m going to add matcha in to my daily morning drink routine right now ❤
Love the information without the hype. Very grounded and actionable
Hey Gil, thanks as always for your great content. First of all, I totally understand why you mention some animal-based protein sources in the video and I have no qualms about that. Second of all, I am glad to hear that the plate visualization strategy has helped out some viewers a lot. My suggestion to you both in the interest of continuing with this visualization trick while also providing meal strategies to a wide audience would be to show case 2 or 3 different visualizations rather than just one. Even something simple like "grilled salmon would be a good protein or swap with grilled and seasoned tofu if you don't eat meat". Or suggesting something like "double the amount of lentils if you're omitting options like salmon but keep in mind the protein ratios will be different". I think by providing multiple options it will both dovetail in for the veg community in your audience without seeming to be biased towards them. Also by providing other options instead of just saying "pause the video and now write down what you think you should eat" I think it will also help give more ideas for your audience. Just some food for thought. Hehe. Get it? Food for thought.
Thank for this overview of a comprehensive approach.
Visceral fat is one of my top concerns as I work on my blood pressure.
I've been doing almost all these things for at least a year (portfolio diet) & my visceral fat is 50cm^3 (45g) which is 1 out of 20 score on visceral (& bottom 1% population) thank u dr c👊🙌
This is an extremely valuable lesson and great protocol. Thank you very much. Based on the linked calculator my visceral fat is still in the green zone but at the upper level. I will still engage to optimize it.❤
Thank you so much for this very interesting and helpful video. I did my visceral fat calculation and I have no visceral fat. Thanks again.
Thanks for the easy to learn step by step. However it still requires some discipline. At least I have a road map know. Thank you sir.
Another great video ! I had a scan and told no visceral fat the lowest he had seen ...I eat protein forward med type diet ..very little upf ...43%healthy carbs ...no special drinks all usual foods (mostly veg fruit wholegrains not lentils /beans apart from natto lean meat oily fish) but diet has plenty resistant starch... walk after each meal around 9k steps a day and do weight lifting 2x per week...I rarely sit. I would struggle to do HIT as likely would injure myself. Bearing in mind I prob never had much visceral fat to loose I think there are probably many ways to do this ....
Incredible how much I learn from your channel. I've been eating Lindt 90% cocoa for years now and never new about the alkalinization (Dutch) process! Just switched to Alter Eco (but other companies make non-Dutch/alkalinized cocoa as well, including Lindt 85% cocoa).
❤GREAT video!!! Thanks for the info…and I don’t do X, so I just took a screenshot - so thank you very much!!❤😊
Duckweed has a variety of species designated as such, and the species used in the study is still very hard to source…
Thank you. I plan to interject some running intervals into my existing morning walk. No additional time needed (may actually save a few minutes overall).
Excellent.
Love the chart!
Really informative! Thanks for the calculator! I always use it when you link them. Love the channel . Personally had way better results lifting. I did cardio classes for 20 years & did not see improvement in body composition.
Oh wow, I need this video.
You've excelled your excellent self with this one Gil - thank you so much for all your hard work.
Raw banana flour is also rich in resistant starch
Getting my wife to think of lentils and beans as primarily carb though also protein has been a journey on its own. It's a bit of a tough sell on many people to ask them to replace their "carb" with "veg protein" like that. But messaging like this on the health effects, calling out the resistant starch and the protein content doesn't hurt nor fiber, well maybe we will try to incorporate even more.
This is video sooo perfect! I am starting to do most of them already and starting to see results.
Thank you again for all the work you do to simply try to help people be healthier! I'm sure it's a second full time job trying to make videos that actually engages and helps people in the easiest way for them.
Great info, I just can’t handle starches, resistant or not. To be honest though I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Love the infographic idea. It makes a video so much more actionable ❤
Thanks Gil.
I miss the old outro music a bit
I got around this by hiring a four piece band to play in my bedroom whenever I finish watching these videos
I LOVE CLOVES TEA! It's a game changer. 😄
What exactly has it done for you? I'm really interested 😊
? please do you make your own?
Great Video Dr Gil. It's come at a good time for me. I started a health and fitness plan a week ago. I will make a few changes and incorporate many of the things you recommend. Thanks for all the time and effort you put in to producing these videos.
Thank you as always ; You always give us the Best Science to help us make healthy choices and Habits !!!!! I am going to drink more green tea & have some berries and walnuts on my yogurt. I recently started rebounding, can be pretty gentle and it like jogging in place. I do it while watching my You-tube videos instead of sitting. 😊
Excellent video!
Awesome 👍.. Thank you.
Fantastic info! Thanks so much.
I ❤this channel, thank you! One tip: instead of eating chocolate mix 100% coco powder with a little bit of sugar in hot milk for a drink, and in this way, avoid the intake of most of the saturated fats when eating chocolate. All the best from Finland!
Edited to correct data.
Polyphenols per calorie:
Coffee, filtered, decaffeinated: 268.2 mg/cal
Coffee, filtered: 266.7 mg/cal
Black elderberry: 195.0 mg/cal
Capers: 156.5 mg/cal
Black tea: 104.5 mg/cal
Swiss chard leaves, raw: 69.5 mg/cal
Green Tea: 61.9 mg/cal
Cloves: 58.6 mg/cal
Sweet bay leaves: 41.7 mg/cal
Mint tea: 30-35 mg/cal
Lemon verbena: 28.9 mg/cal
Cocoa, powder: 24.7 mg/cal
Mint leaves: 14-23 mg/cal
Camomile tea: 18-23 mg/cal
Globe artichoke, raw: 19.0 mg/cal
Black raspberries: 18.8 mg/cal
Basil: 10-18 mg/cal
Oregano: 12-18 mg/cal
Ceylan cinnamon: 17.0 mg/cal
Pak choy, raw: 14.9 mg/cal
red cabbage, raw: 14.5 mg/cal
Chestnut, raw: 14.1 mg/cal
Adzuki bean, cooked (estimated): 14.0 mg/cal
Blackberries: 13.2 mg/cal
Wild blueberry/huckleberry: 13.1 mg/cal
Blackcurrants: 13.0 mg/cal
Fennel leaves: 12.4 mg/cal
Lingonberries: 11.9 mg/cal
Thyme: 7-12 mg/cal
Black chokeberry (aronia): 11.2 mg/cal
Sage: 11 mg/cal
Spinach, raw: 10.8 mg/cal
Gooseberries: 10.7 mg/cal
Generally speaking, Black, purple and red colored plant foods have more polyphenols than green and white foods. Drink your tea or coffee, eat your berries and greens, and flavor your food with spices and herbs! Nuts and dark chocolate have a lot of polyohenols per gram, but because they are calorie dense they have little per calorie.
Reference: phenol-explorer.eu
That’s very useful, thanks. I love the dark chocolate but two squares means I have to cut out something else to stay inside my calorie budget. Guys forget women can’t eat as much.
This is why coffee helps health because so high in poly phenols and Americans do not eat enough fruits and vegetables
The Visceral Fat Calculator just blames me for my age. I'm quite proud that at age 50+ I have the same weight as in my high school years. With comparable stats except for my age, the Visceral Fat Calculator gives me a score of 156 (Visceral Obesity) whereas at 19 years of age it gives me a 114 score (Absence of Visceral Obesity)! Nowadays I eat way more clean (less meat, more legumes, less processed food, way less refined sugar, processed foods, etc, thanks to Gil's great education on these matters, which I very much appreciate). I exercise 5 times a week (3 times endurance and 2 times strength). I live way better then I did at 19. My body measures are about the same (I am even more muscular nowadays). My BMI is in the optimal range. The calculator seems to mostly correlate age with visceral obesity. One can almost replace the entire calculator with a 1:1 association from age to Visceral Obesity. In order to change my stats to get into the green with the calculator, I would end up looking like a cancer treatment patient. Even if I would lose another 4 kg under my ideal weight, I still won't get the calculator in the green. Even when I would double that weight loss, I still wouldn't be in the green. This is not at all realistic for me and rather demotivating. No matter what I do when the years progress the calculator marks me Visceral Obese. Is it correct and are problems due to visceral fat inevitable at higher age? This can't be right, can it? Do more people have this problem?
My suggestion is get a DEXA or an MRI which can measure visceral fat better than inferred methods. On the DEXA report, you are presented with your percentile as compared to the average young person and the average adult. DEXA isn't as accurate with visceral fat measurement in people who are lean overall, but I could still see it drop with weight loss. My current amount is 290 g.
I'm 64 and I got a reading of 93.11
@NutritionMadeSimple - 2026-08-02
Many viewers reported they don´t have a Twitter/X account. So here´s the infographic on Instagram, Facebook and Substack for your convenience. And while you´re at it, add me on there to catch more future content on those platforms.
Hope that helps!
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https://www.instagram.com/p/DbjKUYzFch1/?hl=en
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@myggggeneration - 2026-08-02
Thanks :-) . You might want to PIN that post to the top.
@beautifulrose8619 - 2026-08-02
Where is the brands of matcha you said that were going to be linked?
@NutritionMadeSimple - 2026-08-02
@beautifulrose8619 linked in description
@beautifulrose8619 - 2026-08-02
@NutritionMadeSimple thx
@carlr2837 - 2026-08-02
I don't have a twitter, instagram, facebook, or substack account, but I was able to find some visceral fat calculators online.