Did you know a mortal? fat could be living inside you? It sounds scary, but it’s true. Visceral fat is a hidden health problem that many are unaware of. It’s abdominal fat that sits deep in your abdomen and wraps around your vital organs, which can lead to serious problems like stroke, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, and more. Some visceral fat is needed to help protect your organs, but too much causes health complications.
Anyone can have visceral fat, and it’s caused by a few things like poor diet, not enough exercise, stress, and not getting enough sleep. “How much visceral fat you can and should lose will depend on your individual situation,” Dr. Héctor Pérez, general surgeon and chief board certified with bariatric magazine tells us, “If you’re overweight or obese, even a small amount of weight loss can help reduce the amount of visceral fat in your body and improve your overall health. However, for those at a healthy weight, losing too much too much visceral fat can actually be harmful because visceral fat helps cushion and protect your organs. So if you lose too much, you may be at higher risk of developing health problems.”
Visceral loss is important to help maintain overall health, but it can be challenging at times. dev batraMD, Dallas Vein Institute Dual Board Certified Vascular and Interventional Radiologist says: “If you’re struggling to lose visceral fat, don’t despair. There are a number of strategies you can try, such as increasing the intensity and duration of your exercise, or adding more healthy fats and fiber to your diet. You may also want to talk to your doctor about medications or other treatments that may be available to help you lose visceral fat.”
Eat this, not that! Health talked to experts who reveal the reasons you’re not losing visceral fat and share their tips for getting rid of dangerous belly fat. Read on and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure signs you’ve already had COVID.
Dr. Perez explains, “One way to tell if you’re losing visceral fat is to measure your waist circumference. If you’re a man and notice that your waist circumference is decreasing or is now less than 40 inches, this is a good sign. that you’re losing visceral fat. For women, a decrease in waist circumference to less than 35 inches is also an indicator of visceral fat loss. You can also calculate your BMI to see if you’re losing visceral fat.
A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese, so if your BMI is dropping, it could be a sign that you’re losing visceral fat. And finally, you can also ask your doctor to do tests like a CT scan or MRI to check for changes in your visceral fat. However, these tests can be expensive, so they may not be an option for everyone. Doctors would generally only recommend them if you are at risk of serious health problems due to your visceral fat.”
dev batraMD, Dallas Vein Institute Dual Board Certified Vascular and Interventional Radiologist tells us: “It’s hard to target visceral fat with exercise. Visceral fat is deep in the abdominal cavity and surrounds the organs, so it’s not possible to detect and reduce it with exercise.” Harvard Health states: “Studies have shown that you can help reduce visceral fat or prevent its growth with both aerobic activity (such as brisk walking) and strength training (exercising with weights). Specific exercises, such as sit-ups, can tighten your abdominal muscles but you won’t get to the visceral fat. Exercise can also help keep the fat from coming back.”
Cleveland Clinic Psychologist and registered dietitian David Creel, PhD says: “
Patients want to know why they can’t just do sit-ups to melt fat. When you do crunches, you’re strengthening your abdominal muscles, but that’s not specifically targeting the fat or loose skin around your stomach. It’s also important to understand that our genetics influence where we gain or lose fat.” While genetics can be an obstacle, and we can’t cut our fat in one go, Dr. Creel says there are still strategies we can use to reduce the belly . fat.”
Lisa Richards, nutritionist and author of the candida diet Share, “Refined carbohydrates have many negative side effects on our health, and visceral fat is just one of them. White and enriched breads in particular have undergone a refining process in which fiber and beneficial nutrients are removed and possibly replaced with synthetic versions. These refined carbohydrates lead to rapid blood sugar spikes and inflammation, both of which stunt weight loss and damage health. It is best to use whole grain bread or other whole grain breads that have not been refined.
A general rule of thumb is to look at the ingredient list and avoid any bread that starts with enriched. A high-protein diet can help reduce and prevent visceral fat. Lean protein stimulates metabolism and increases satiety. An increased metabolism will lead to weight loss, and having a feeling of fullness will prevent overeating and indulging in high-calorie, high-sugar foods. High-protein foods that can be eaten to lose visceral fat and keep it off include lean poultry, fish, nuts, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, chia, lentils, and quinoa.”
According to Dr. Perez, “Certain medical conditions can also increase the risk of accumulating too much visceral fat and making it difficult to lose. For example, if you have insulin resistance, this can lead to weight gain and make it harder to lose visceral fat. Other conditions that can increase your risk of having too much visceral fat include polycystic ovary syndrome (SOP) and hypothyroidism. If you have any of these conditions, it’s important to talk to your doctor about the best way to manage them and achieve a healthy weight.”
diabetes.es states: “Carrying a lot of visceral fat is known to be associated with insulin resistance, which can lead to glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes. Researchers have discovered that visceral fat secretes a protein called binding protein to retinol 4 (RBP4) which has been shown to increase insulin resistance. And a study published in the National Library of Medicine find, “Visceral fat is the most significant variable that correlates with metabolic dysfunction in women with PCOS. Our data support the hypothesis that visceral fat causes insulin resistance or is an early effect of insulin. It also implies that reducing visceral fat should reduce insulin resistance, which may explain the observations that exercise and weight loss appear to be more effective interventions than drug treatments. The best anthropometric measure of insulin resistance is waist circumference.”
“Another reason someone might have a hard time losing visceral fat is genetics,” says Dr. Perez. “Just as some people are predisposed to store more body fat in general, others are more likely to store visceral fat. This is due to things like our genes and hormones, which can affect the way our bodies store and use fat. So if you have a family history of obesity or other conditions related to visceral fat, you’re more likely to have a hard time losing it.”
Harvard Health states: “Fat stored in the lower body (the pear shape) is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area (the apple shape) is largely visceral. Where the fat ends up is influenced by various factors, including heredity and hormones.As the evidence against accumulations of abdominal fat, researchers and doctors are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and increased or weight loss in general.
The fat you can pinch is subcutaneous fat. The fat inside your belly (visceral fat) can be seen and measured, but not pinched.”
According to a study conducted by yaleWell, stress can cause visceral fat, and when you get too stressed, you produce a hormone that’s meant to protect your body from trauma, but too much can lead to excess visceral fat. “Cortisol affects fat distribution by causing fat to be stored centrally, around organs. Exposure to cortisol can increase visceral fat, the fat that surrounds organs, in animals. People with diseases associated with extreme exposure to cortisol, such as recurrent severe depression and Cushing’s disease also have excessive amounts of visceral fat.”
“Everyone is exposed to stress, but some people may secrete more cortisol than others, and they may secrete cortisol every time they face the same stressor,” adds Epel. “We predicted that constantly reacting to the same stressors by secreting cortisol would be associated with increased amounts of visceral fat.”
After the first exposure to stress, women with more abdominal fat felt more threatened by the stressful tasks in the study, performed worse on them and secreted more cortisol. They also reported more life stress. At the third stress exposure, lean women with abdominal fat still secreted more cortisol in response to stressful laboratory tasks, compared to women with peripheral fat.
Elissa S. Epel, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study, says, “It is possible that increased exposure to stressful conditions or psychological vulnerability to stress has led them to overreact to stressors in their daily lives, for who have had a longer life”. cortisol exposure… Cortisol, in turn, may have caused them to accumulate abdominal fat. However, genetics also plays a role in shaping stress reactivity as well as body shape.”
