Millions of people particularly those in their middle age will somehow carry a certain quantity of visceral fat around their bodies everyday. But it is rather shocking to know that only a handful of them realize about the dangerous implications that these unhealthy fat can have towards their general health and well-being.
Visceral fat (also known as intra-abdominal fat) which accumulates around the abdomen has dangerous repercussion such as raising blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Therefore, you might want to get rid of it before it gets too late.
What Causes Visceral Fat?
Generally, when people reach their middle age (defined as age 35 to 58), they start to expand around their waist. This condition is becoming increasingly evident and getting even harder to fight off as our age progresses. As such, as our body’s metabolism rate decreases as we get older, it will be a real pain by then, to know that you can no longer eat what you like without affecting your waistline.
Visceral fat is actually the unhealthy “spare tire” that accumulates around your abdomen that would not budge. Unlike other fat located elsewhere in the body, visceral fat poses significantly higher risks to health compared to the others.
For many years, researchers have found that people with apple shaped body figures or huge beer bellies are at a higher risk of getting visceral fat related health problems. In addition, researchers have also found that people with wide girths are more likely to have visceral fat hidden deep within their belly.
Hence, doctors who normally measure your body mass index (BMI) at appointments should include waist measurement as well. Since measuring weight and height alone only shows half the picture, waist measurement is in fact a more accurate indicator of how much belly fat a person carries and with those data in hand, doctors can better guide you on the proper ways to lose off your visceral fat fast.
So, Who Is At Risk?
As a general rule of thumb, men with waist circumference measurement greater than 40 inches are at elevated risk of developing health problems. Similarly for women, waist circumference greater than 35 inches are at risk. Recent research has also found that middle aged women are especially prone to rapid accumulation of visceral fat within their bodies.
These people need to trim their waistline immediately. Although researchers do not know the exact waist circumference for optimal health, but what they do know is the fact that waist circumference is an important factor in the determination of health. Most agree that waist circumference measurement also plays a vital role besides body mass index. It has the similar factors and connections such as between body weight and high blood pressure.
Visceral Fat Assessment
As waist measurement is not an entirely accurate method of assessing visceral fat within the body, people who are normal weight could be carrying a significant amount of visceral fat too. Find out how you can do a self measurement here. Although waist measurement is a good guide in itself, it cannot be completely relied upon. Unfortunately, the only real method that can accurately determine the exact amount of hidden visceral fat is through CT or MRI scans. These scans can be costly in the first place and is deemed impractical to scan every person who is overweight. This is why, most doctors normally stick to weight and waist measurement as a guide.
The reason why some people tend to carry more of this fat than others is still largely unknown. But scientists do believe that there is a link to genes, hormonal changes, as well as stress level to some degree. Another reason could be that when a person gets older, naturally physical activity and the body’s metabolism rate tends to decrease too. This in turn causes more accumulation of fat in the body. As such, it is becoming harder and takes even more efforts to lose visceral fat as one gets even older.
In general, these are the contributing factor that increases visceral fat accumulation in the body.
1. Being overweight or obese
2. Passive lifestyle
3. Smoking
4. Excessive intake of alcohol
5. Stressful life
6. Having unhealthy diet particularly diet high in saturated fat.
So, if you are one of those who are particularly at risk, you should consider and start getting rid of those visceral fat now before it becomes too late. Check out the diet and workout that works.
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