What is Visceral Fat?

Visceral fat is fatty tissue that wrap around your internal organs within the abdominal cavity. They are dangerous because you cannot feel them or see them…unlike the subcutaneous fat that you can pinch off under your arms.

It is actually hard to ascertain how much visceral fat you have because it doesn’t just affect overweight or obese people. People that appear to be skinny can also run the risk of having a high level of visceral fat in their body. This syndrome is known as TOFI, or “thin outside, fat inside.”

By and large, there are two signs that you can look out for that indicate high visceral fat; these are a protruding belly and large waistline. The recommended waist circumference is 90cm (35.5 inches) for men and 80cm (31.5 inches) for women.

Another reference is the waist-hip-ratio where you divide your waist size by your hip size. The recommended ratio is less than 0.85 for women and 0.9 for men.

High levels of visceral fat is associated with stroke, cardiovascular diseases and Type 2 diabetes, hence it is equally important that we should try to lower down this hidden fat as much as the overall body fat.

So what causes the accumulation of visceral fats in the body? Many of the food below is linked to the buildup of belly fats overtime:

• High intake of fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, animal innards (e.g liver, intestines etc) as well as deep-fried or processed foods.
• Soft drinks, candies, baked goods, and other high sugar food.
• Ingredients like “partially hydrogenated oils” or “high-fructose corn syrup” (time to sift through your food labels).

So what is the acceptable range of visceral fats in the body?

• Level 1-9: Normal;
• Level 10 to 14: High level
• Level 15 or more: Very high levels

Your normal bathroom scale will not be able to provide you the numbers unless it comes  with a BIA (bioimpedance analysis) function. Alternatively, a CT or MRI scan at your health practitioner can give you an insight of how much visceral fats your body is carrying.

Do check out the nutritional services at Ashford Medical Centre where you can learn about your visceral fat levels and adopt new dietary habits to reduce these hidden fats from your body gradually.

Take active steps today to prevent potential health problems tomorrow!.

Reference:
Harvard University (2016). Waist Size Matters. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Website: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-definition/abdominal-obesity