A Year Later, $19 Billion For WhatsApp Doesn’t Sound So Crazy

Messaging is the center of mobile. Snapchat is raising at around a $20 billion valuation. And no one cares who owns apps. On February 19, 2014, we didn't know any of these things for sure. So when Facebook announced it would pay $19 billion to acquire WhatsApp — an app most American pundits had never used — it seemed ludicrous. Zuck had to be crazy, right?

Wrong.

Without WhatsApp, Facebook’s international situation would look a lot dicier. And if a competitor like Google acquired it instead, it could have been disastrous.

Instead, Facebook possesses the most popular messaging app, and has neutralized the biggest threat to its global domination of social networking.

Why?

Chat Is The Mobile Portal

No apps get opened as often as messaging apps. While you might spend longer in total scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest, the frequent short sessions with chat apps make them a vector for other experiences. That means they’re more valuable than they might first appear.

How do you monetize chat? It’s a tough question. Sure there’s stickers, but there’s too much competition to charge much upfront for an app and it’s too disruptive to show ads. But platforms, hubs, portals — whatever you want to call them — hold plenty of opportunities to cash in.

The messaging apps from Asia are proving this as we speak. China’s WeChat also lets you call ataxi, pay friends, search, shop, buy movie tickets, and more. Japan’s Line hosts Line Pay, Line TV, and an identity platform for games. Why fumble with a bunch of different apps, passwords, and payment methods when you can do it all while you chat?

Even Snapchat is expanding far beyond messaging. Its Stories product for broadcasting sequences of photos and videos is a hit with star content creators. Its Snapcash feature lets you quickly pay friends through Square Cash. And its new Discover portal collects Snap-formatted content from premium producers like Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN and Vice.

A lot of critics wondered how Facebook could earn money from messaging on WhatsApp, considering it’s vowed not to show ads and only charges its skimpy $1 subscription fee in a few markets. The answer is it doesn’t have to. By taking a cut of commerce, or charging for promotion of content, it could keep chat lean and clean while monetizing other parts.

It Missed The Boat On Snapchat

Facebook famously offered to buy Snapchat for somewhere around $3 billion. With 20/20 hindsight, we know that was a short-sighted low-ball. Snapchat rejected the offer, and all of Facebook’s efforts to clone it since have failed spectacularly.

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel laughs it up

Now Snapchat is trying to raise around $500 million at a $20 billion valuation. Its Stories feature has grown into a competitor to Facebook’s News Feed. And Discover could make it all quite monetizable if it gets popular. Snapchat is constantly cited as where teens are ditching your parents’ social network for.

Snapchat has become one of the banes of Facebook’s existence, and I’d imagine Facebook wasn’t willing to let it happen again abroad. So rather than trying to pay what WhatsApp was worth a year ago, it resigned to pay what it may be worth one day.

Parent Companies Don’t Matter

Whenever a tech giant buys a popular startup, there’s always some immediate backlash from users, and worries that people will jump ship. But time and time again, we’ve seen that if the acquired startup is allowed to run at least somewhat independently and can simply carry on its mission with more resources, fans stay loyal.

Instagram had around 30 million users when Facebook bought it for $1 billion. Now it has over 300 million users and Citigroup values it at $35 billion.

Some Kickstarter backers and early developers moaned when Facebook acquired Oculus. But it’s since flourished into the premier virtual reality platform. CEO Brendan Iribe told me the acquisition helped by boosting confidence of big devs because they knew Oculus wouldn’t run out of money and shut down.

The Parse developer platform has grown from 60,000 apps to over 500,000 since Facebook bought it. Flurry flourished with Yahoo. Twitter’s ownership didn’t deter people from Vine.

Facebook buying WhatsApp wasn’t going to ruin it, and it didn’t. It’s kept growing from 450 million monthly users a year ago to 700 million last month.

The Scary Alternative

More risky than Facebook not buying WhatsApp was what would happen if a competitor did.

Most obviously, Google could have used WhatsApp to jumpstart its late-to-the-game Hangouts messenger. Suddenly, Facebook would be battling a deep-pocketed competitor to replace SMS as the way the world chats.

Without it, Google has seemingly surrendered in the messaging war. Since WhatsApp runs independently, Facebook has been able to focus on its Messenger app in its home market, which has risen to 500 million users.

WhatsApp has achieved massive popularity in the developing world where SMS fees are hard to swallow. That’s because discretionary income is less common, which also makes monetizing these users with ads difficult. That’s a problem for Facebook that WhatsApp can help solve. Through mobile payments that are widespread in places like Africa, WhatsApp could monetize where it’s tough for its parent.

And whether it stayed independent or sold to someone else, WhatsApp could have challenged Facebook’s iron grip on social networking. It’s not just chat. WhatsApp offers a status update feature reminiscent of AOL Instant Messenger’s away messages. But if you squint, those statuses look quite similar to what people post to the Facebook feed.

Since messaging is the core feature of mobile, WhatsApp could have wedged its way into becoming a full-fledged social network starting with statuses.

We won’t know for sure until WhatsApp starts bringing in serious revenue. But in the age of the desktop web, AOL and Yahoo grew huge by using their frequent use to become the portals to everything else. Messaging apps are the portals of mobile, and Facebook owns the biggest one.

Crazy like a fox.

Hunter Walk And Satya Patel Raise $50 Million For Homebrew Ventures Fund II

It was just 18 months ago that Hunter Walk and Satya Patel formally launched Homebrew Ventures, a $35 million venture fund focused on investing in what they called the “bottom-up” economy. Those former product guys have raised even more money for their second fund, which tops out at $50 million.

Homebrew has made 17 investments since being founded, focusing mainly on companies that, as my former colleague Leena Rao wrote at launch can help “drive economic growth and innovation through simpler, cheaper and more direct access to technology, information and customers.” That includes companies like on-demand shipping company Shyp, legal help marketplace UpCounsel, and office cleaning and management startup Q.

For Fund II, not much has changed in terms of focus, although the size of the fund has increased a bit. As the blog post notes:

Homebrew II is a $50 million fund. It’s slightly larger than our first fund because we intend to deploy entry capital over a 30-36 month period, whereas we invested the initial fund in 24 months. Our sweet spot is, and will remain, playing a leadership role in first institutional financing rounds. That usually looks like a $500k-$1m check as part of a $1m-$3m fundraising.

In addition to Fund II, Homebrew has raised an additional $35 million “Moonshine Fund” for doing investments in companies that grow beyond its initial seed or early Series A focus and raise follow-on financings. That’ll enable it to support investments in its most successful portfolio companies.

Hunter Walk And Satya Patel Raise $50 Million For Homebrew Ventures Fund II

It was just 18 months ago that Hunter Walk and Satya Patel formally launched Homebrew Ventures, a $35 million venture fund focused on investing in what they called the “bottom-up” economy. Those former product guys have raised even more money for their second fund, which tops out at $50 million.

Homebrew has made 17 investments since being founded, focusing mainly on companies that, as my former colleague Leena Rao wrote at launch can help “drive economic growth and innovation through simpler, cheaper and more direct access to technology, information and customers.” That includes companies like on-demand shipping company Shyp, legal help marketplace UpCounsel, and office cleaning and management startup Q.

For Fund II, not much has changed in terms of focus, although the size of the fund has increased a bit. As the blog post notes:

Homebrew II is a $50 million fund. It’s slightly larger than our first fund because we intend to deploy entry capital over a 30-36 month period, whereas we invested the initial fund in 24 months. Our sweet spot is, and will remain, playing a leadership role in first institutional financing rounds. That usually looks like a $500k-$1m check as part of a $1m-$3m fundraising.

In addition to Fund II, Homebrew has raised an additional $35 million “Moonshine Fund” for doing investments in companies that grow beyond its initial seed or early Series A focus and raise follow-on financings. That’ll enable it to support investments in its most successful portfolio companies.

Deadly cold hits US East for second day

The snow and ice look may look pretty, but as Ben Bland reports, the weather is causing problems

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• How to survive extreme cold
• Boston mayor scolds snow jumpers
• How do US cities get rid of snow?

Bitterly cold temperatures have continued for a second day in the eastern half of the US.

A number of record lows were broken on Thursday, including in Washington, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Midwest temperatures dropped to -40C (-40F).

The cold has been blamed for at least 19 deaths, many in Tennessee where temperatures were far lower than usual.

Forecasters say some areas will see sleet and freezing rain as temperatures warm up slightly over the weekend.

Ontario and parts of Quebec were also under extreme cold warnings - with the wind-chill making temperatures feel like -29C in Toronto and -45C in northern Ontario.

In Toronto, a three-year-old boy died on Thursday after being lost for hours wearing only a T-shirt, nappy and boots.

Elijah Marsh was found a few hundred metres away from his home in temperatures of -19C but died in hospital.

The extreme cold has also frozen parts of the Hudson river near New York City, with a tugboat brought in to break up the ice.

A completely frozen fountain in Bryant Park, New York City drew onlookers

Elijah Marsh died after being outside in -19C temperatures in Toronto

The deep freeze has partially frozen Niagara Falls

In the US Midwest, a majority of Lake Michigan and 98% of Lake Erie were frozen over.

Chicago reopened its schools on Friday after closing the day before due to wind-chill temperatures as low as -34C.

Schools in the Waterloo region outside Toronto were also closed because of the cold on Friday.

What can the US learn from Finland about dealing with cold weather?

Record lows

• Ronald Reagan National Airport, outside Washington DC, -14C. Previous record, -13C, 1896
• Baltimore-Washington Airport, -17C. Previous record, -15C, 1979
• New York City's Central Park, -16C. Previous record, -14C, 1950
• Pittsburgh, -21C. Previous record, -19C, 1934

About 3,000 people were still without electricity in Tennessee on Friday down from 30,000. Eleven deaths are being blamed on the cold in the state , including six from hypothermia.

In western Pennsylvania, temperatures dipped to minus -28C, without the wind chill.

And further north in the mid-western state of Minnesota, temperatures dropped to -41C.

Unusually cold temperatures have spread across the US South - including Atlanta (seen here)

Great Falls, Virginia, near Washington DC, freezes over

Tenneesse remains in a state of emergency after at least 11 people died because of the cold

Deadly cold hits US East for second day

The snow and ice look may look pretty, but as Ben Bland reports, the weather is causing problems

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• How to survive extreme cold
• Boston mayor scolds snow jumpers
• How do US cities get rid of snow?

Bitterly cold temperatures have continued for a second day in the eastern half of the US.

A number of record lows were broken on Thursday, including in Washington, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Midwest temperatures dropped to -40C (-40F).

The cold has been blamed for at least 19 deaths, many in Tennessee where temperatures were far lower than usual.

Forecasters say some areas will see sleet and freezing rain as temperatures warm up slightly over the weekend.

Ontario and parts of Quebec were also under extreme cold warnings - with the wind-chill making temperatures feel like -29C in Toronto and -45C in northern Ontario.

In Toronto, a three-year-old boy died on Thursday after being lost for hours wearing only a T-shirt, nappy and boots.

Elijah Marsh was found a few hundred metres away from his home in temperatures of -19C but died in hospital.

The extreme cold has also frozen parts of the Hudson river near New York City, with a tugboat brought in to break up the ice.

A completely frozen fountain in Bryant Park, New York City drew onlookers

Elijah Marsh died after being outside in -19C temperatures in Toronto

The deep freeze has partially frozen Niagara Falls

In the US Midwest, a majority of Lake Michigan and 98% of Lake Erie were frozen over.

Chicago reopened its schools on Friday after closing the day before due to wind-chill temperatures as low as -34C.

Schools in the Waterloo region outside Toronto were also closed because of the cold on Friday.

What can the US learn from Finland about dealing with cold weather?

Record lows

• Ronald Reagan National Airport, outside Washington DC, -14C. Previous record, -13C, 1896
• Baltimore-Washington Airport, -17C. Previous record, -15C, 1979
• New York City's Central Park, -16C. Previous record, -14C, 1950
• Pittsburgh, -21C. Previous record, -19C, 1934

About 3,000 people were still without electricity in Tennessee on Friday down from 30,000. Eleven deaths are being blamed on the cold in the state , including six from hypothermia.

In western Pennsylvania, temperatures dipped to minus -28C, without the wind chill.

And further north in the mid-western state of Minnesota, temperatures dropped to -41C.

Unusually cold temperatures have spread across the US South - including Atlanta (seen here)

Great Falls, Virginia, near Washington DC, freezes over

Greece wins four-month bailout extension in eurozone deal

Yakis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, at the Brussels talks on Friday.

Continue reading the main story

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• Greece bailout talks - in 60 secsWatch
• Varoufakis and Schaeuble: No love lost
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Greece and eurozone nations have agreed a deal to extend financial aid after bailout talks in Brussels.

Eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement to extend Greece's financial rescue by four months.

Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup, said that Athens had pledged to honour all its debts.

"This is a very positive outcome," he told a news conference on Friday night.

"I think tonight was a first step in this process of rebuilding trust. As you know trust leaves quicker than it comes. Tonight was a very important, I think, step in that process," Mr Dijsselbloem said.

Greece had agreed to present an initial list of reform measures by Monday, he added.

Yakis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, said he would work night and day between now and Monday to devise a new list of reforms.

He added that Greece had not used threats or bluff during the talks: "The four-month period will be a time to rebuild new relations with Europe and the IMF."

'Turned a page'

A Greek government official said Athens now had time to negotiate a "new deal".

"Greece has turned a page," the official said. "We have avoided recessionary measures."

Greece had been seeking a six-month extension of the bailout but the Eurogroup opted for four months.

The agreement removes the immediate risk of Greece running out of money next month.

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said: "We are pleased that work can actually begin."

She was involved in talks between Mr Varoufakis and Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, on Friday afternoon that helped pave the way for the deal.

Eurogroup president and Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem speaking in Brussels earlier on Friday.

The agreement helped send Wall Street to new record highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 154 points, or 0.9%, at 18,140.44 points, while the broader S&P 500 added 0.6% to 2,110.3 points.

The euro gained against the US dollar on Friday following the announcement, adding 0.3% to $1.1403.

Sebastien Galy, a foreign exchange analyst at Societe Generale, said: "It certainly looks like we're moving away from disaster. It should help a stress that has been building up in the market to be released."

Greece wins four-month bailout extension in eurozone deal

Yakis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, at the Brussels talks on Friday.

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Greece bailout talks - in 60 secsWatch
• Varoufakis and Schaeuble: No love lost
• German press 'fed up' with Greece

Greece and eurozone nations have agreed a deal to extend financial aid after bailout talks in Brussels.

Eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement to extend Greece's financial rescue by four months.

Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup, said that Athens had pledged to honour all its debts.

Wow: Meet The Woman With World Largest Hips

I don’t know how real or natural this is, but this woman must feel very uncomfortable every time she steps out.

This woman in the photos has been described as the woman with “the world’s biggest bottom.”

Mikel Ruffinelli, 39, is 5 ft 4 inches tall , weighs 109.5 kg, and has a 40-inch waist.

Daily Mail says “with a bumper backside that measures 8ft around, Ruffinelli is the owner of a bottom that is large enough to make even Kim Kardashian‘s pale in comparison.”

The Los Angeles native who is a mother of four, says she is in top shape, and that women envy her body.

“I have an extreme physique. I love my curves, I love my hips, I love my attributes. I love my shape and I see no reason to diet because I don’t have health problems. Men don’t fancy skinny girls, they like an hourglass figure,” she said.

Rufinelli will be featured in a new documentary titled, World’s Biggest Hips.

Wow: Meet The Woman With World Largest Hips

I don’t know how real or natural this is, but this woman must feel very uncomfortable every time she steps out.

This woman in the photos has been described as the woman with “the world’s biggest bottom.”

5 UNBELIEVABLE Health Benefits Of African Cherry (Agbalumo, Udara)

Popularly called Agbalumo, Udara, and Otien in some parts of Nigeria, the African cherry fruit has lots of health benefits that will surprise anyone!

The exotic fruit which has a chewable edible skin that ranges in color from green to orange, depending on the stage of ripeness. The tender, sweet inner flesh is off-white with seeds making the inner to look like a star-shaped fruit. This obviously shows where it got the nickname ‘star apple’. purple and white and has a star shape formed by seeds through the middle of the fruit. The beautiful fruit can be gotten mostly everywhere in Nigeria towards the end of November till later in March when it would have gone out of season.

According to NurseRita, here are a few out of the countless benefits of African Cherry:

Vitamins and Minerals
Star apples serve as a good source of calcium, with each serving providing you with 10 percent of the amount you require each day. The calcium lends strength to your bones and teeth, and it may also lessen symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, such as cramping and abdominal bloating. This fruit also contains 5 percent of the daily recommended value per serving of vitamin C and vitamin A. Additionally, one serving of star apples serves up 2 percent of the iron, a mineral vital for oxygenating your body, that you need every day.

Helps Diabetic conditions
Star apples may have particular benefits for diabetics. Research published in the September 2009 edition of the “African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology” indicates that the leaves of this fruit may reduce glucose levels in diabetic rabbits, the same function that insulin serves. Take note, however, that consuming star apple leaves appears to have a toxic affect when eaten in large quantities. More research is needed to determine the effectiveness of star apple leaves to control diabetes in humans.

Medicinal Uses
The star apple is a folk remedy in several countries, although no research exists to confirm these uses. The seeds of this fruit may be useful to reduce fevers and treat diarrhea. Some people also eat this fruit to reduce the inflammation associated with laryngitis and pneumonia. Other uses, including treatment for hypertension, tooth abscesses, heart problems, intestinal issues and cancer exist, but do not eat star apple for any medical condition without first consulting your physician.

Helps You Lose Weight
Eating a serving of star apple contributes 3 g of fiber to the recommended daily intake of 25 to 38 g. Fiber provides bulk to your diet, a factor that can make your stomach feel fuller for longer. This can keep you from eating too much, and it may help you lose weight. This nutrient can also help protect you from diabetes and some forms of cancer.

All-Round Basic Nutrition
1-cup serving of fresh star apple contains 67 calories. Eating star apple as a snack is a good choice as the calories are low and it provides no fat; however, this may not be enough calories to ease hunger pains and boost energy levels, as between-meal snack are meant to do. The Diet Channel notes that 100 to 200 calories per snack is best; consider eating an oz. of cheese or a tsp. of peanut butter to boost the number of calories into this range. One serving of star apple also has 15 g of carbohydrates, or 11.5 percent of the 130 g suggested for daily consumption by the Institute of Medicine.

5 UNBELIEVABLE Health Benefits Of African Cherry (Agbalumo, Udara)

Popularly called Agbalumo, Udara, and Otien in some parts of Nigeria, the African cherry fruit has lots of health benefits that will surprise anyone!

The exotic fruit which has a chewable edible skin that ranges in color from green to orange, depending on the stage of ripeness. The tender, sweet inner flesh is off-white with seeds making the inner to look like a star-shaped fruit. This obviously shows where it got the nickname ‘star apple’. purple and white and has a star shape formed by seeds through the middle of the fruit. The beautiful fruit can be gotten mostly everywhere in Nigeria towards the end of November till later in March when it would have gone out of season.

According to NurseRita, here are a few out of the countless benefits of African Cherry:

MOVIE REVIEW: SELMA by Jimi Ojikutu (@jinglanation)

The Movie about the Martin Luther King March in Selma for the freedom of the blacks to vote in the South of America after the desegregation Laws of 1964, Selma takes on a journey of freedom and fighting for rights through the force of Love and advocacy rather than violence. It exposes the spirit of resilience in standing for what is right and what happens if people come together in one voice to stand and speak out for what is right. What forces will move, what elements will shake, even the earth itself will move if people come together to believe in one cause- that was an original quote, lol.

Back to the film, Selma was a profound expose of the character of Martin Luther King and it took us into his struggles as a man, as a leader, as clergy, and as a key proponent for change in the then racially imbalanced United States of America. The role played by Nigerian Actor, David Oyelowo, almost gives us a glimpse into what it was like being Martin Luther King.

The Story line maintained a good pace with each scene keeping a lively beat unlike a lot of historical films; Selma was informative, fun to watch, and expository all at the same time. At some moments you are almost moved to tears, at other moments you smile, sometimes you almost stand up from your seat and scream freedom, and at the end you I bet you must have screamed ‘Glory Hallelujah, we shall overcome’.

The set and props also depicted the time and almost took you into that time and Era. David Oyelowo’s performance I must say was definitely Oscar worthy and in my mind he deserves one. He played the character and in some instances you almost believe it was Rev. Martin Luther King himself you were watching on the screen.

In total, Selma was a total film. You all need to see it.

Below is an Excerpt from New York Time’s review of Selma-

Even if you think you know what’s coming, Selma hums with suspense and surprise. Packed with incident and overflowing with fascinating characters, it is a triumph of efficient, emphatic cinematic storytelling…And much more than that, of course.

Nuff said, go see the film.

————

Film Review by Jimi Ojikutu: Jimi Ojikutu is a Writer, Film Maker and Video Director. He has a published Novel to his credit and has worked on several Short Films, Music Videos, and Commercials. Twitter @jinglanation, Instagram @jinglanation

MOVIE REVIEW: SELMA by Jimi Ojikutu (@jinglanation)

The Movie about the Martin Luther King March in Selma for the freedom of the blacks to vote in the South of America after the desegregation Laws of 1964, Selma takes on a journey of freedom and fighting for rights through the force of Love and advocacy rather than violence. It exposes the spirit of resilience in standing for what is right and what happens if people come together in one voice to stand and speak out for what is right. What forces will move, what elements will shake, even the earth itself will move if people come together to believe in one cause- that was an original quote, lol.

Back to the film, Selma was a profound expose of the character of Martin Luther King and it took us into his struggles as a man, as a leader, as clergy, and as a key proponent for change in the then racially imbalanced United States of America. The role played by Nigerian Actor, David Oyelowo, almost gives us a glimpse into what it was like being Martin Luther King.

The Story line maintained a good pace with each scene keeping a lively beat unlike a lot of historical films; Selma was informative, fun to watch, and expository all at the same time. At some moments you are almost moved to tears, at other moments you smile, sometimes you almost stand up from your seat and scream freedom, and at the end you I bet you must have screamed ‘Glory Hallelujah, we shall overcome’.

The set and props also depicted the time and almost took you into that time and Era. David Oyelowo’s performance I must say was definitely Oscar worthy and in my mind he deserves one. He played the character and in some instances you almost believe it was Rev. Martin Luther King himself you were watching on the screen.

In total, Selma was a total film. You all need to see it.

Below is an Excerpt from New York Time’s review of Selma-

Even if you think you know what’s coming, Selma hums with suspense and surprise. Packed with incident and overflowing with fascinating characters, it is a triumph of efficient, emphatic cinematic storytelling…And much more than that, of course.

Nuff said, go see the film.

————

Film Review by Jimi Ojikutu: Jimi Ojikutu is a Writer, Film Maker and Video Director. He has a published Novel to his credit and has worked on several Short Films, Music Videos, and Commercials. Twitter @jinglanation, Instagram @jinglanation

3 Proven Ways To Lose That Stubborn Belly Fat

Everyone knows that being overweight can increase our risk of serious health problems. However, most people don’t realize that not all fat distribution is equal. Accumulating fat under our arms and thighs, for instance, is more of a cosmetic concern than a cause for significant medical alarm. Yes, we are better off without it and should endeavor to remove it, but fat in these areas is more likely to make us feel bloated rather than send us to the emergency room in the immediate future.

In reality, the most serious problems associated with being overweight, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are overwhelmingly caused by a build-up of abdominal fat. Abdominal fat, which is also called belly fat or visceral fat, is the fat that lodges itself against our major organs and compromises their ability to function properly — a state of affairs which, if left unchecked, can lead to an early death. Fortunately, the following lifestyle changes are known to help remove abdominal fat in a natural manner.

1. Reduce carbohydrate intake

Studies have shown that cutting carbs is an extremely effective way to lose abdominal fat. For example, a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that participants who restricted their carbohydrate intake over a 2-week period experienced significantly decreased liver triglycerides when compared to the control group. Another study, published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism, discovered that there was a “clear benefit of a [very low carbohydrate ketogenic] over [low fat] diet for short-term body weight and fat loss, especially in men.” Significantly, the low carb diet demonstrated a “preferential loss of fat in the trunk region.”

Though there are numerous reasons why a reduction in carbs contribute to fat loss, perhaps the biggest one is that most carbs (especially whole grains) have an extremely high glycemic load. According to cardiologist Dr. William Davis, modern wheat is especially notorious in this regard, and eating too much of it can result in significant abdominal fat accumulation — the dreaded “wheat belly.”

2. Avoid refined sugar

Refined sugar is one of the most destructive ingredients in the Standard American Diet, and countless studies link sugar consumption to overall weight gain. However, a study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation has also shown that a consumption of sugar (specifically, fructose-sweetened beverages) is responsible for increasing abdominal fat in overweight and obese adults — a result that shouldn’t really be surprising, since our livers are forced to turn fructose into fat when it is flooded with refined sugar. Therefore, losing those last few pounds of belly fat might be as simple as avoiding high-sugar processed foods in favor of whole foods.

3. Engage in more aerobic exercise

While all exercise can potentially remove belly fat in the long-term, aerobic exercise (such as running and swimming) seems to be especially effective in this regard. Research published in the International Journal of Obesity, for instance, showed a clear link between aerobic exercise and visceral fat reduction. A review featured in Obesity Reviews reached a similar conclusion, noting that “aerobic exercise is central for exercise programmes aimed at reducing [visceral adipose tissue]

source: naturalnews.com

3 Proven Ways To Lose That Stubborn Belly Fat

Everyone knows that being overweight can increase our risk of serious health problems. However, most people don’t realize that not all fat distribution is equal. Accumulating fat under our arms and thighs, for instance, is more of a cosmetic concern than a cause for significant medical alarm. Yes, we are better off without it and should endeavor to remove it, but fat in these areas is more likely to make us feel bloated rather than send us to the emergency room in the immediate future.

In reality, the most serious problems associated with being overweight, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are overwhelmingly caused by a build-up of abdominal fat. Abdominal fat, which is also called belly fat or visceral fat, is the fat that lodges itself against our major organs and compromises their ability to function properly — a state of affairs which, if left unchecked, can lead to an early death. Fortunately, the following lifestyle changes are known to help remove abdominal fat in a natural manner.