What is Visceral Fat?
A patient recently came to the clinic for his yearly physical exam. Like two thirds of our population he was substantially overweight at 230 pounds and five feet 10 inches tall. He was a hard working farmer/rancher, very solid build but with more of a tummy (beer belly) than he wanted. He made jokes about not being too fat; he said he was just too short. He had gained 3-4 pounds per year for a full 8 years that I graphed out for him using the clinic records. I also showed him the waist size of 44 inches now as compared to a waist size of 37 inches he had at the time of an insurance exam in 1998. I pointed out that at 56 years of age he was a prime candidate for the early age heart attack at least partly because of all his visceral fat. He looked a little confused and said fat was fat; what did I mean visceral fat? So I described for him the observation made by Dr. Jean Hague at the University of Marseille in France fifty years ago. Dr. Hague noted that there was male pattern obesity wh
Visceral fat is different from other body fat. Visceral fat, also called intra-abdominal fat, refers to the fat that surrounds the internal organs. Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is body fat that is close to the skin’s surface and is considered less dangerous, and easier to lose, than visceral fat. Studies have shown that those with visceral fat are more susceptible to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension. Sedentary people, smokers and drinkers have been shown to have more intra-abdominal fat, or visceral fat, than active people who are non-smokers and non-drinkers. Stress may also be a factor in the storage of visceral fat on the body. Visceral fat is harder to lose than subcutaneous fat because it is more deeply embedded in the body’s tissues. Visceral fat is only measured accurately by an imaging machine that can see how much of the abdomen is made up of visceral fat. A person may be within a healthy weight range, but still have too much intra-abdominal fat around
Body fat comes in two varieties. Theres subcutaneous fat, a noticeable layer of fat that lies just below the skin, and then theres visceral fat, which is buried beneath the muscles. Visceral fat is the more worrisome variety because it surrounds vital organs and is metabolized by the liver, which turns it into blood cholesterol.
Visceral fat surrounds your vital organs, the fat is located in the abdominal cavity (stomach area). According to researchers from Duke University Medical Center, exercise can significantly reduce the amount of visceral fat you carry around. The more exercise you do, the more of this type of dangerous fat you will lose. Researchers in this study said that extra exercise can reverse the amount you have, while some moderate exercise can stop your visceral fat mounting up. If, on the other hand, you remain inactive, more likely than not you will pile on the weight at a rate of four pounds per year, say researchers. The more visceral fat you carry around the higher your chances of developing insulin resistance (leading to type two diabetes), heart disease and other metabolic syndromes. Visceral fat is not the fat that lies just under your skin, that type is called subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is deep inside. You can read about this study in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Phy
