Dangers of Belly Fat
Experts Say These Are the Exact Dangers of Belly Fat
Did you know that when medical professionals talk about excess belly fat, they're likely referring to something a lot more critical than having a less-than-flat stomach? What they often mean by belly fat is visceral fat, which is found deep inside our abdomens, surrounding our organs. Having too much of it, which isn't necessarily an obvious thing, has been linked to several serious diseases.
To help break down the unique dangers too much belly fat can present to our overall health, we talked with two experts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Dr. M. Sue Kirkman, professor of medicine and medical director of the Diabetes Care Centre Clinical Trials Unit in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Dr. Sriram Machineni, assistant professor and director of the Medical Weight Clinic. Read on for their expert medical opinions.
How Is Belly Fat Different From Other Types of Fat
"Subcutaneous fat is the fat immediately below the skin and above the muscle layer," Machineni said. It's typically found on the buttocks, thighs or upper arms, and is the type of fat you can sort of see or kind of move around if you touch the skin on top of it. "It's not strongly associated with any health impairments," Machineni said.
"Visceral fat is fat inside the abdominal cavity, surrounding the abdominal organs or viscera," Kirkman added. These organs include the liver, pancreas and intestines. "We used to think that all fat was primarily just storage tissue, and that it didn't otherwise do much. It turns out that subcutaneous fat is primarily just for storage, but visceral fat is much more active. It secretes hormones and inflammatory factors that contribute to insulin resistance, cholesterol/triglyceride abnormalities, and risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer."
How Can You Know If You Have Excess Visceral Fat
The simplest way of trying to evaluate the amount of visceral fat in our bodies is by measuring our waist circumference. "This is not the same as the waist measurement on your pants." Kirkman said. "It needs to be done with the tape measure right at the top of your hip bones, and horizontally around the abdomen as you are standing."
"Find your body mass index or BMI, then measure your waist circumference if your BMI is less than 35," Kirkman said. If your BMI is higher than 35, it's most likely a given that you have visceral fat in addition to subcutaneous fat.
Kirkman recommended this approach particularly for people of Asian descent, because it doesn't take much excess visceral fat for them to have increased risk of type 2 diabetes or other medical problems. "A waist circumference of 40 inches or greater in men or 35 inches or greater in women is considered too high. In Asian Americans, those cut-points are 35 inches in men and 31 inches in women."
What's tricky is that someone who looks very much to be in great physical health can still have excess visceral fat. "It's known to occur in athletes who consume large amounts of simple carbohydrates, despite their high level of exercise," Machineni said.
Plus, as our bodies age, the amount of subcutaneous fat reduces and the amount visceral fat increases. "Therefore, even when our overall weight is the same, as we age we have a significant increase in visceral fat," he said. "Waist circumference is not an accurate measurement of visceral fat, but is a reasonable compromise," he added.
What Causes Excess Visceral Fat
