What is visceral fat?
Visceral fat is a type of body fat that wraps around your abdominal organs deep inside your body. Since visceral fat is stored within the abdominal cavity, you can’t always see or feel it. You’ll also see visceral fat abbreviated as VAT, which stands for visceral adipose tissue.
Visceral fat is found near several vital organs, including:
Stomach
Liver
Intestines
VAT makes up roughly 10% of your total body fat. Typically, women, elderly, and overweight people have a higher percentage of visceral fat.
However, the amount and distribution can vary depending on your age, sex, genotype, ethnicity, diet, physical activity, hormone levels, and even medications you may be taking.
What are the differences between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat?
Belly fat and visceral fat aren’t necessarily the same thing. Another type of belly fat that’s more visible is subcutaneous fat, which is stored just under the skin.
Subcutaneous fat, also known as SAT (subcutaneous adipose tissue), is the type of fat that’s also found in the arms and legs. As a result, it’s easier to see than visceral fat.
Interestingly, your body can metabolize visceral fat faster than subcutaneous fat, making it easier to use. Your body can actually reduce visceral fat when you sweat or pee, and by exercising and maintaining a healthy diet.
Why is visceral fat dangerous?
If you have an abnormally high increase of visceral fat, this is also known as visceral obesity.
So how does excess fat affect the body’s organs? Excess body fat puts strain on the organs and bones, and impairs the body's responsiveness to insulin. As a result, this raises blood sugar and insulin levels.
This can lead to many serious health problems, including:
Metabolic syndrome
Cardiovascular disease and heart disease
Impaired glucose and lipid metabolism
Insulin resistance
Increase risk of prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer
Arterial hypertension and Hypertriglyceridemia
Do you want to assess your risk level of these medical conditions based on body fat percentages and estimations? If so, then you should schedule a Dexascan near you today.
What causes an increase in visceral fat?
Your diet and exercise are the biggest factors that contribute to visceral fat.
When it comes to your diet, eating lots of fatty foods and carbohydrates (sugars) will increase your percentage of visceral fat and lead to weight gain.
Here are the types of food and beverages that can lead to an increase in visceral fat:
Fried foods
Red meat
Processed meat
Refined grains (white bread, white flour, white rice)
Sugary foods
Alcohol
Soda and other sugary beverages
On the other hand, some foods can actually help prevent an increase in visceral fat. Here’s a list of foods that burn visceral fat:
Fruit
Dairy and nutrients
Whole grains
Fiber
Other than diet, inactivity and lack of exercise can lead to an increase in visceral fat.
Therefore, if you want to decrease your VAT, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine is crucial!
How to measure visceral fat
Are you growing a protruding belly and large waist? These are two signs that you may have too much visceral fat or subcutaneous fat. Some people describe visceral fat as giving a someone an ‘apple-shaped’ body rather than “pear-shaped” body.
Fortunately, our Dexafit locations can offer a test to help you measure visceral fat.
At Dexa Fit, we can assess total fat and regional fat through our Dexa body composition scan. This is also called a DXA scan, which stands for Dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry.
The DXA scan is considered the “gold standard” test for measuring body composition factors like:
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT)
Total fat mass
Lean body mass
Bone mineral content
Bone mineral density
In addition, the DXA scan also offers a simple and reliable estimation of VAT mass and volume.
WHR vs BIA
It's important to note the DXA scan can provide precise measures of total fat mass. Therefore, we can only calculate visceral fat indirectly through measuring the Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).
That said, DXA is a far more precise method than anthropometric techniques, including waist circumference or bioelectrical impedance (BIA).
What is a healthy amount of visceral fat?
The normal visceral fat range should be about 10% of your body fat. If VAT levels are higher than 10%, it is a risk for cardiovascular or metabolic health diseases.
Does visceral fat contribute significantly to body weight?
Recent studies show that VAT is strongly correlated with body fat percentage. However, abdominal fat, which includes visceral fat, is more related to health risks than whole-body fat.
To better understand your body weight and what factors contribute to it, find a Dexafit location near you today.
How to reduce belly fat
The best way to reduce VAT is to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
Eat a balanced diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables
Exercise regularly and engage in aerobic activities such as walking, jogging, or swimming
Reduce your stress levels and practice relaxation techniques such as yoga
Get enough sleep
Avoid sugary foods and drinks
Limit your alcohol intake
Drink plenty of water
Avoid processed foods, saturated fats, and trans fats
Can liposuction reduce visceral fat?
Liposuction is a fat removal procedure that’s only designed to remove subcutaneous fat.
Furthermore, because visceral fat is embedded deep inside the abdominal cavity – it cannot be suctioned out with lipo.
Why do people have a hard time losing belly fat?
It’s not easy to reduce visceral fat, as it is often stored deep within the abdominal cavity. Keep in mind that you can’t spot reduce fat from just one area of your body, such as the abdomen.
So in order to reduce visceral fat, you must reduce your total body fat. This can be done through a combination of diet and exercise.
Even if you’re doing all the right things, it can still take time to reduce VAT. Genetics, hormone levels, and medications can all have an effect on how quickly your body will burn fat.
Ultimately, patience and consistency is key when it comes to reducing belly fat and losing weight.
Book an appointment with a DexaFit location near you so that you can track your progress and receive personalized advice.