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The Dangers of Hidden Abdominal Fat
The bad news about visceral fat is that it can build up quickly. The good news about visceral fat is that regular moderate physical activity can help prevent it and regular vigorous physical activity can help get rid of it.
What Is Visceral Fat?
Body fat comes in 2 varieties. Subcutaneous fat is a noticeable layer of fat that lies just below the skin. Visceral fat is found deeper inside the abdomen, around the organs like the liver, pancreas. and intestines. Visceral fat is considered to be the more worrisome variety because it is associated with a higher rate of heart disease. Men tend to have more visceral fat, while women carry more subcutaneous fat.
Visceral fat can go largely unnoticed because it’s not visible to the naked eye. One effective way researchers can locate visceral fat is by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) , which uses magnetic fields and radio waves to take a picture of the inside of the abdomen. Researchers can use this picture to estimate the amount of visceral fat a person is carrying.
What Causes Visceral Fat?
Your genetic makeup is responsible for some of the amount of visceral fat you carry. Nevertheless, research shows that both your diet and your level of physical activity contribute to your level of visceral fat. People who consume large amounts of calories and people who perform little or no physical activity are likely to have high stores of visceral fat.
Short of talking to a physician into performing an MRI on your abdomen, how do you know how much of this unhealthy fat you have? Check your waistline. A trim waistline is a good indicator that you don’t have a large build-up of visceral fat. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has set the following cutoff points to identify people who are at high risk of developing obesity-related diseases:
|Women||Greater than 88 centimeters (35 inches)|
|Men||Greater than 102 centimeter (40 inches)|
If your measurements fall above these cutoff points, there is a good chance that you are carrying a dangerous amount of visceral fat. Even if your waist circumference does not exceed the cutoff value, making an effort to reduce your waistline can still significantly improve your health.
The Health Risks of Abdominal Fat
Increased visceral fat, which builds up deep within the abdomen to surround organs like the liver and insulin-generating pancreas, can pose certain dangers to health, especially in those with a body mass index (BMI) above 30 kg/m 2 (kilograms/meter squared) . Although men are more likely to be at risk than women of developing certain diseases, both should be aware of the dangers:
- Type 2 diabetes —Studies have shown that adults with large deposits of visceral fat develop lower sensitivity to insulin (insulin resistance). Since these people do not respond to the effects of insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels, they can develop type 2 diabetes.
- Coronary artery disease —Visceral fat may promote the release of cytokines, chemicals that regulate the immune response. Cytokines promote inflammation that affects the coronary arteries, which contributes to the development of atherosclerosis . Extra fat around the waist may also lead to high blood pressure , lower levels of HDL (good cholesterol), and can increase the risk of stroke .
- Metabolic syndrome —This combination of abnormal blood sugar levels, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and elevated blood pressure has been observed even in some people withoutextra abdominal fat.
- Sleep apnea —Increased visceral fat has been associated with the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea since deep abdominal fat can restrict the movement of the diaphragm and limit lung expansion.
The health risks associated with extra abdominal fat increase with age (over 45 years in men and over 55 years in women), ethnicity (African-American, Hispanic, and Asian) and family history. Behaviors like cigarette smoking and lack of physical activity also contribute to poor overall health. Some of these risks factors can be altered with modifications in diet and lifestyle.
How Do You Get Rid of Visceral Fat?
Research shows that people whose diets contain polyunsaturated fats in place of saturated fats have less visceral fat. Polyunsaturated fats are found in high concentrations in sunflower, corn, and soybean oils, as well as in fish. Also, just exercising moderately—doing things such as walking, swimming, or playing tennis—for 30-60 minutes on most days of the week will help prevent visceral fat from building up. What’s even better is that doing regular bouts of vigorous exercise can reduce the amount of visceral fat you already have.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Weight-Control Information Network
Public Health Agency of Canada
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- Reviewer: Michael Woods, MD
- Review Date: 05/2016
- Update Date: 06/11/2014