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Hidden deep within the body, dangerous types of fat are wrapped around important organs such as the kidneys, liver, and heart. This causes inflammation that can lead to chronic diseases that shorten insulin resistance and lifespan.
It is called visceral fat, and can enlarge the belly, but for everyone it does not. Even thinner people may have too much visceral fat around organs, a phenomenon known as “skinny fat.”
“Vsubstitute fat is a marker of everything, including insulin resistance, increased cardiovascular risk, fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, and more. Everything is a very bad outcome that limits a long, healthy lifestyle.”
Dr. Kellyan Niotis, a preventive neurologist who studies lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Boca Raton, Florida, says it is even linked to long-term cognitive health.
“Vsubstitute fat is metabolically unhealthy and secretes many inflammatory chemicals that can cause brain atrophy and impact cognitively,” Niotis told CNN in a previous interview.
As a person’s belly size grows, studies have shown that the brain’s memory center shrinks and the appearance of distinctive signs of Alzheimer’s disease: beta-amyloid plaque and tau entanglement. Researchers say this accelerated march to dementia can begin in the 40s and 50s before cognitive decline becomes apparent.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, if visceral fat is about 10% of the body’s total fat mass, it is normal and healthy. So how do you know if you are beginning to blur your views on your feet? One way to communicate is to measure your waistline.
Pregnant male women with waist sizes of 35 inches (88.9 cm) and men (101.6 cm) over 40 inches are at high risk from visceral fat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
You can measure your waistline yourself. Without sucking on your stomach, wrap the waist scale around the top of your hip bones (usually across the abdominal button). Exhale normally, make sure the tape is parallel to the floor and is snug, and make sure it is not tight in all skin. (There is no cheating on your stomach – this is a risk to your health.)
Another important sign is lean muscle mass. If you have more body fat than muscle mass, you are likely to have visceral fat all over your body, even your muscles, Freeman said.
You can measure lean muscle mass with the annual Dexa scan, a large non-invasive X-ray device that measures bone density, visceral fat and muscle mass. There is also a commercially available biometric scale that tracks the proportion of body and visceral fat and lean muscle mass.
Then there’s common sense, Freeman said. Inadequate exercise and eating habits are the red flags of the present and future for abdominal fat.
“Humans were designed to be healthy, strong and active,” he said. “Eating raw foods and not doing cardio and strength training is a good indication that if you don’t have an excess now, you may not look ‘fat’, but it may be that soon. ”
Want to make changes? Visceral fat is reversible due to lifestyle changes, Freeman said.
“The key to a true holy grail, the elixir of young people, aging young and gracefully is to stay strong and healthy,” he said.
Always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program. Then you start with aerobic exercise to pump your heart, Freeman said. A good way is to walk actively for at least 30 minutes a day. “But when I say it vigorously, I mean you lose your breath and can’t have a conversation.
The important next step is to add resistance. It is also called strength training, he added.
“When I tell people to go walking, cycling, swimming, jogging, I usually recommend that they do resistance at the same time,” Freeman said. “People carry some weights, wear a weighted backpack, resist the bike or bike uphill, place the fins in your hand when swimming, and be resistant to water.
According to the non-profit American Council of Movements, some of the most effective resistance exercises to build lean muscles and lose fat require the cooperation of multiple joints in the body.
Deadlifts, lunges, boards, presses, pull-ups and push-ups require the release of many muscles that increase oxygen use and hormones such as adrenaline, which increases blood flow to the muscles and increases overall heart rate.
Try to add weight, increase sets and repetitions, and reduce the rest you take between exercises while gaining lean muscle mass. If you don’t know how to do it without hurting yourself, seek advice from a physical trainer, the council suggests.
“If you’re doing all the right things and haven’t built muscle mass, talk to your doctor to rule out issues like low testosterone that may be hindering your progress,” Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, previously told CNN.
A plant-based diet is a great way to improve nutrition and lose belly fat, experts say.
“Take away any standard American diet filled with all processed foods and added fat, sugar and more and switch to a predominantly whole food diet,” Freeman said.
Mediterranean diet is more of a lifestyle than a meal, and it has earned its highest honor since 2019, focusing on eating fruits, vegetables, grains, olive oil, nuts and seeds. This meal also reduces sweets consumption and recommends small amounts of dairy and meat, especially lean meat. However, fish are staple foods, especially fatty fish such as sardines.
A study from October 2023 found that he followed a low-calorie Mediterranean diet, gaining muscle by doing minimal exercise for up to six days a week, and losing a significant amount of body fat for three years.
A May 2024 survey found that Mediterranean dietary patterns reduced the risk of death in women by about 25% over 25 years, resulting in a reduction in both cancer and cardiovascular death.
It may change when you eat. Try eating patterns called intermittent fasting or time-limited meals, Freeman said. But he added, it doesn’t work for everyone.
“People who are struggling with weight loss need to get rid of their bodies on a daily basis, which is very difficult,” Freeman said. “Some people, not everyone, will respond to some degree to a time-limited diet.
“I’ll eat breakfast at 11am and dinner by 5am. It’s not six hours a day, 18 hours a day. I’ll combine that with intensity and aerobic exercise training and change the fuel type to whole food.
