Sick To Your Stomach: Why You Need To Get Rid Of That Visceral Belly Fat

Before you indulge in that extra Christmas cookie or the last latke, you may want to think about new research underscoring the danger that your visceral belly fat is posing to your health and well-being. When we talk about the dangers of visceral fat, we are talking about the excess fat deep inside your body that surrounds and burdens your vital organs, rather than subcutaneous fat, which is just under the surface of your skin and can be easily pinched and measured. It’s not easy to measure the amount of visceral fat you have (in fact, you can be of “normal” weight and still have dangerous levels of visceral fat), but generally, it is correlated with abdominal or “belly fat,” and measuring your waist can be a good proxy for determining whether your abdominal fat may be dangerous. An MRI can measure your visceral fat, but this sort of scan is unlikely to be reimbursed by insurance. A high waist circumference might be a good indicator that you may have a problem. Experts advise that in men between the heights of 5’6” and 6’6”, their waist measurement should be no larger than ½ their height.

Two new research studies report why visceral fat may pose significant harm to both your physical and cognitive health. First, in a study recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, researchers reported that they were able to link visceral fat to specific damage inside the heart, especially in older men, and this extra abdominal fat may cause damaging changes in the heart well before symptoms or problems emerge. Using MRI technology, this study was able to capture concerning changes to the heart structure, even in patients who seemed to be of normal weight but had elevated interior visceral fat. The fat caused the walls of their heart to thicken and the inner chamber of the heart to shrink, thereby setting up the person for heart failure down the line. For more on this study, pull out your tape measure and click here.

A second study follows earlier reports of the connection between visceral fat and brain health. Again, using MRI technology, researchers from Washington University report that in a study of over 1100 healthy people, with an average age of about 55 years old, those with a higher ratio of visceral fat to muscle tended to have biologically “older” brains. As one expert made clear, “Healthier bodies with more muscle mass and less hidden belly fat are more likely to have healthier, youthful brains.” What this research thus underscores is the importance of building muscle mass and shedding visceral fat to support your aging brain. How can you achieve that? While it’s not easy to rid yourself of abdominal belly fat, there is also new research suggesting positive steps to take. In a study recently published in JAMA Network, researchers demonstrated over the course of a 7-year study that a combination of a healthier diet and exercise was valuable in keeping visceral fat at bay. Changing only one of those behaviors produced modest changes in visceral fat, but combining an improved diet with enhanced physical activity levels led to the biggest reduction in visceral fat among the research participants.  By improving diet and maintaining or building muscle mass, your body will burn calories and fat more efficiently. Therefore, adding strength training to your exercise routine (along with a healthy diet) should help accelerate your body’s ability to shed harmful visceral fat. For some inspiration to get that belly fat busted, take a look at a series of exercise videos from our friends at Yes2Next. And for some helpful additions to your fat-burning diet, you may want to try some of the teas recommended here.