Undo Belly Bulge with Vitamin C

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Haven't seen your waistline in a few years? Eat more oranges. Here's why. Apple-shaped people (who carry extra pounds around their middles) are at higher risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. All of these drain the body's stores of vitamin C. Why? This antioxidant helps fight the cellular damage that comes with these problems. So help your body help you by packing in more oranges, papayas, bell peppers, and other C-rich fruits and veggies. It's the new way to eat skinny. Ever see a rusty pipe? That same process -- called oxidation -- goes on in your insides, but in this case, it damages cells, not metal. Conditions like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes accelerate the process, "rusting" cells throughout your body, including those lining your blood vessels. And the thicker you are around the middle, the more "rusty" you're likely to be. The best solution for reducing this damage is to lose weight -- especially around your middle. But losing belly bulge is easier said than done. Now researchers have discovered that hourglass-shaped people have higher blood levels of vitamin C than apple-shaped people. They aren't sure why, but they're investigating some likely theories. One is that men and women who have a low waist-to-hip ratio may eat lots of vitamin C-rich fruits and veggies and take vitamins. A second possibility is that those shaped like an hourglass are healthier and not as likely as their apple-shaped peers to be obese or have ailments like heart disease and diabetes that "rust" tissues and gobble up vitamin C. Megadosing on vitamin C won't make you slim, but eating a low-fat, high fiber diet that includes lots of C-rich produce may not only help protect your body from excessive cell damage, but also give you a good shot at getting -- and keeping -- a svelte figure.