It's appropriate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health. Research suggests that fat cells - particularly abdominal fat cells - are biologically active. Staying physically active throughout the day as well as scheduling time for structured exercise may be even more important than diet. How do you lose belly fat? No surprise: exercise and diet. The fat inside your belly (the visceral fat) can be seen and measured, but not pinched. The fat you can pinch is subcutaneous fat. As the evidence against abdominal fat mounts, researchers and clinicians are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and overall weight gain or loss. Where fat ends up is influenced by several factors, including heredity and hormones. Are you pear-shaped or apple-shaped?įat accumulated in the lower body (the pear shape) is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area (the apple shape) is largely visceral. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery. Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Visceral fat, on the other hand, lies out of reach, deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs.
Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it's a key player in a variety of health problems - much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. But we've now been put on notice that as our waistlines grow, so do our health risks. Extra pounds tend to park themselves around the midsection.Īt one time, we might have accepted these changes as an inevitable fact of aging. As people go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase - more so in women than men. Though the term might sound dated, "middle-age spread" is a greater concern than ever. Visceral fat more of a health concern than subcutaneous fat
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