Weight loss is one of the major concerns in today’s world and obesity has genuinely become a major cause of death in the world. It affects not only adults, but also teenagers and children. But not many people know that the bad kind of fat in our body is known as visceral fat and how it affects our body. This article has all the information you need to know about the visceral fat and its impact on our body.
Our body has two types of fat in our body: visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is the fat that is present just under the body and commonly found in areas like thighs, stomach, hips and our butt. Meanwhile, visceral fat is the fat that lies deeply in our body and it forms a gel like substance around our major organs. Visceral fat is fat that is usually found in places like heart, intestines, lungs, kidneys, and pancreas and it just doesn’t accumulate in the body, it also has the ability to impact on our body in a negative way. Click next to know what else visceral fat does to our body.
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Visceral fat is usually found in important organs like heart, lungs, intestines and kidneys and form a gel like lining over these organs. The big problem with visceral fat is it is hard to differentiate with the subcutaneous fat, since visceral fat is present in the mid section and is not pronounced as subcutaneous fat which is present just under the skin and more pronounced. However visceral fat has the ability to cause many serious diseases to us. Since this fat is present near the important internal organs, it can cause diseases like arthritis, cancers, and type II diabetes, dementia, and heart disease, high level of cholesterol, obesity and even heart stroke. Studies have also found that this fat also obstructs normal function of hormone producing glands. This fat also causes immune system to produce proteins known as cytokines which hinder interaction between cells of the body.
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Cytokines accumulate in major organs in the body which in turn can cause major affect on blood cells that provide nutrition to the body. This affects the signal system which sends signals to organs producing insulin, blood pressure and even the process of blood clotting. Main causes of such fat accumulation are bad diet choices which consists of carbohydrates, sugars and processed foods and combination of this diet with bad life style and less physical exercise. Visceral fat is much harder to burn off when compared to subcutaneous fat.
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Visceral fat is located under the muscles, and if excess of such fat gives you an apple shaped body. Visceral fat is often seen with MRI or CT scan. The best way to manage this visceral fat is to monitor what food you eat and how much you eat. The American Diabetes Association recommends that you not eat more than 30% of your daily calories and keep saturated fats to a minimum of just 7%. In addition to this diet plan and you also need a good workout plan to burn off all the calories. Any exercise that results in your heart rate increasing for a minimum of 30 minutes a day can regulate and decrease the amount of visceral fat in the body. Also adequate amount of sleep also helps burn calories and regulate hormones and chemical reactions in our body. If visceral fat is untouched and accumulates over time, it can be very dangerous to your overall health and well-being.
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