Visceral fat is a deadly health issue that isn’t talked about enough outside of the medical and health community, but it should be. It is deadly fat that is hidden deep in your abdomen and wraps around your vital organs. Although some visceral fat is good because it can protect your organs, too much of it causes health problems and has been linked to serious diseases like stroke, certain cancers, type 1 diabetes. 2 and more.
Anyone can have visceral fat, regardless of body shape and weight. It is caused by several factors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, stress and lack of sleep. Unlike the subcutaneous fat that you can see and touch, most people don’t know they have visceral fat and therefore don’t take any steps to get rid of it. But it can be harmful and dangerous for your health. “Visceral fat is associated with insulin resistance and an inflammatory state that can lead to metabolic complications such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” Aleem Kanji, MARYLAND Ethos Endocrinology, PLLC tells us.
Although visceral fat is incredibly unhealthy and increases the risk of several health problems, the good news is that it is easier to get rid of than subcutaneous fat. According Cleveland Clinic, “Visceral fat is actually easier to lose than subcutaneous fat. This is because it metabolizes faster and your body can get rid of it as sweat or urine. If you start exercising regularly and eating healthy, you should start seeing results in two to three months.” Eat this, not that! Health spoke to experts who share what to know about visceral fat and how to lose it.
Read on and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure signs you’ve already had COVID.
Dr. Naheed A. Ali, MD, PhD with United States RX Explain, “Visceral fat is harmful. It is found in the abdomen and surrounds organs (such as the liver and kidneys). Visceral fat causes greater health problems than other diet-related issues. Visceral fat can boost diabetes-causing hormones. Heart health is affected. It harms blood vessels and cholesterol. It increases the risk of heart disease. This can cause liver damage. It can also induce other weight gains (like on your arms or legs).”
Dr Daniel AtkinsonClinical Lead Treated.com states, “Visceral fat sits quite deep in our upper body, and when we have a lot of it, it can crowd out some of our vital organs – like the liver, heart, and lungs – and exert a pressure on them. This basically means that they cannot function as well – so, for example, the liver will not be able to filter out toxins at the rate it normally does. Our heart will not pump blood as well and our lungs If you have a lot of visceral fat, you are more likely to develop problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, and your risk of heart problems and strokes increases. It is therefore important to try to limit visceral fat, to help minimize your risk of all of the above.
Dr. Atkinson tells us, “Measuring your waistline is a good indicator (take a tape measure and run it over your belly button, instead of taking your pants waistline off). If you’re a woman and your waist is over 35 inches, or you’re a man and your waist is over 40 inches, then you’re probably in the riskiest threshold. BMI won’t tell you your level of visceral fat by itself, but if you’re overweight (BMI of 25 or more) or obese (30 or more), you may have an unhealthy amount of visceral fat. There are smart scales that can also tell you what your body fat percentage is; the unhealthy threshold is thought to be over 25% if you are male and over 32% or if you are female. However, some studies like this one found that smart scales can be inaccurate at measuring body composition.”
Kent Probst, personal trainer, kinesiotherapist and bodybuilder with Long healthy life adds: “A sign that you may have too much visceral fat is if your body mass index (BMI) is 25.0 to 29.9. A BMI in this range puts the person at increased risk of diabetes from type 2, dyslipidemia, hypertension and cancer.An exception is that Asians develop health problems with a lower BMI.BMI is also less accurate for people who have a large muscle mass.
Dr Dev Batra Interventional Radiologist │ Owner and Founder │ Dallas Vein Institute Explain, “There are several ways to tell if you are losing visceral fat. One way is to measure your waistline. If you’re carrying a lot of visceral fat, you’ll likely have a large waistline. Another way to find out is to measure your body fat percentage. If you’re carrying a lot of visceral fat, you’ll likely have a high body fat percentage. You can get a CT scan or MRI to directly measure how much visceral fat you have.”
Dr. Kanji says, “Body composition techniques, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), can aid in the monitoring of total and visceral body fat. These imaging techniques are expensive and not widely available. easily achievable is the waistline. This is a crude estimate with data suggesting a correlation with visceral fat.
Leann Poston MD, MBA, M.Ed. with TeleMDNow shares, “Changing hormone levels with age, weight gain, and chronic stress can all increase visceral fat. The best sign of excess visceral fat is to measure your waistline. If your waist size is 35 inches or more for women or 40 inches or more for men, you are at increased risk. You can’t target visceral fat, so the best way to get rid of it is to reduce overall body fat and increase muscle mass.”
Dr. Kanji adds, “Weight loss through lifestyle modifications leads to a reduction in visceral fat as well as total body fat. It exists evidence to suggest the same correlated reduction with pharmacological therapy.”
Dr. Atkinson says: “The Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week (so for example, jogging or brisk walking for 30 minutes, five times a week) in addition to strength training two days a week (for example lifting weights or performing bodyweight exercises like push-ups). Maintaining this week after week can help you lose weight.”
Dana Ellis Hunnes PhD, MPH, RD is a senior dietitian at UCLA Medical Center, assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and author with Cambridge University Press, of the new book, SURVIVAL RECIPE says, “Aerobic exercise (not just spot exercises like abdominal crunches) is enough to lose weight and build muscle. If you burn enough energy/calories through exercise and healthy eating, you’ll lose fat everywhere, including (possibly) visceral fat too. It won’t be the first fat you lose, but you will eventually lose it if you eat a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight through exercise .”
Cleveland Clinic states, “Stress activates a hormone in your body called cortisol. More cortisol activates your body’s “fight or flight” response, which triggers the storage of more visceral fat. Try yoga or mediation to reduce your stress level.
According to a Yale study“Cortisol exposure can increase visceral fat – the fat surrounding organs – in animals. People with diseases associated with extreme cortisol exposure, such as severe relapsing depression and Cushing’s disease, also have excessive amounts of visceral fat.” Everyone is exposed to stress, but some people can secrete more cortisol than others, and can secrete cortisol each time they face the same stressor…We predicted that reacting to the same stressors consistently by secreting cortisol is linked to more visceral fat.
Hunes explains: “A healthy diet of whole foods and plants rich in fruits, vegetables, fiber, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, anti-inflammatory, high in fiber which can help lower cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation of the liver and other parts of the body as well. It can cause you to lose visceral fat because if you lose fat anywhere, you ALSO lose fat there. Dr. Batra adds: “Eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains will help improve your metabolism and also help you feel full.”
Cleveland Clinic states, “A healthy diet includes lean protein, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. Try to limit trans fats, refined sugars, sodium and processed foods. Low-carb diets such as the ketogenic (keto) diet can help reduce visceral fat by training your body to burn fat for fuel rather than carbs.”
#doctor #begging #lose #weight #heres #Eat