Visceral fat is the type of fat that is more common in men, it is found deeper in your belly, under your abdominal muscles and around your vital organs. This type of harmful fat has been linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, certain cancers, and stroke.
Too many body fat is bad for your health. But compared to the fat located just under your skin (subcutaneous fat), the visceral type is more likely to increase your risk for serious medical problems. Heart disease, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and high cholesterol are some of the conditions strongly linked to having too much fat in your trunk.
Researchers suspect that visceral fat makes more of a particular protein that inflames your tissues and organs and narrows your blood vessels. That can make your blood pressure go up and cause other problems.
Visceral fat is dangerous because it is linked to the release of proteins and hormones that can cause inflammation. This inflammation can damage your arteries, enter your heart and negatively affect how your body breaks down sugar and fat. The proximity of visceral fat to your liver is important as it increases the production of bad cholesterol. As time goes on, the plaque becomes inflamed which in turn narrows your arteries due to swelling. These narrow passages increase your blood pressure, strain your heart and increase your risk of blood clots.
Researchers can debate the underlying cause, but there’s no doubt that the main underlying driver is too many calories. And that means whether overweight patients have visceral or subcutaneous fat, the care at the forefront is the same: Patients need to eat less, exercise more, and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Waist circumference values may provide one more argument to convince patients of this need — or, in extreme cases, of the need for bariatric surgery or weight loss medications.
