Visceral Fat - What is Visceral Fat and why is it Important?
A lean belly leads to a healthier life. When measuring your body fat surrounding the waist, you are actually measuring visceral fat. This is the fat that surrounds your abdominal organs. It is normal to have some visceral fat; however, a high level of visceral fat can lead to serious health issues.
What is visceral fat?
Compared to ‘normal’ fat, visceral fat is stored deeper in the skin. Visceral fat is wrapped around major organs like the liver, pancreas and your kidney. Visceral fat ensures that there is some distance between each organ. Too much visceral fat creates can lead to inflammation and high blood pressure, which increases the risk of serious health problems. This is also know as central obesity.
Another problem with visceral fat is its impact on adiponectin or ‘fat hormone’. Adiponectin’s function is to regulate your body fat. Visceral fat inhibits adiponectin. As a result your body produces more fat than you actually need. A high level of visceral fat also influences your insulin sensitivity. Which means that it can lead to type 2 diabetes later in life.
How to measure visceral fat?
There are many different ways to measure visceral fat, these include options you could do at home, but you could also go to your doctor. An easy method you could do right now is to take a measurement of the largest parts around your waist and hip. However, this option is not entirely accurate. Once you have measured both your waists and hip, divide the waist by the hip measurement. A healthy body should have less than 1.0 for men or 0.85 for women.
A good indicator of having a high level of visceral fat, is a high BMI score (Body Mass Index) and a large waist. If you have both, chances are likely that you have a high level of visceral fat.
For a more accurate measurement of your visceral fat you can also make use of a Tanita body composition monitorfor wome. The Tanita bathroom scale helps you to accurately monitor and calculate your visceral fat. By now you should be aware of the dangers of having to much visceral fat. But our body consists of more than only fat, take muscle mass for example. And right here a Tanita weighing scale is your friend . The Tanita body composition monitors can exactly measure your visceral fat. Because it is more than just a visceral fat scale.. It measures your entire body, it gives detailed information on your body’s composition. Getting a detailed overview of what your body is made of will help you to adopt that healthy lifestyle.
Practical tips on how to lose visceral fat
- Get enough sleep
- Exercice on a daily basis
- Try to reduce high amounts of stress
- Follow a balanced diet with healthy protein choices
- Reduce you alcohol consumption
- Quit smoking
What is the ideal visceral fat rating?
The Tanita body composition analyser can track visceral fat in your body. Based on all the available information it gives you a range between 1 and 59. A rating between 1 and 12 indicates that you have a healthy level of visceral fat. A rating between 13 and 59 indicates that you have an excessive level of visceral fat.
How to lose visceral fat?
Tanita offers a wide range of weighing scales. These scales all make use of the proven technology of Tanita. This technology gives you detailed insights in the composition of your body. And this happens everytime you step on your bathroom scale. In less than a couple of seconds you get a detailed overview. This will give you the opportunity to keep an close eye on your visceral fat or your body water. But it will also help you to lose weight effectively or to keep track on growing muscle mass.
Common questions about visceral fat
How dangerous is visceral fat? Visceral fat can be dangerous due to the fact that it is implicated in a number of chronical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, dementia and breast cancer. Harvard health discusses the link of visceral fat and these chronical conditions. Can stress cause visceral fat? Stress can play a role in the degree of visceral fat. When a person is stressed, the body produces a hormone called cortisol. This hormone increases the amount of visceral fat stored in the body. Which foods should you avoid to reduce visceral fat?
- Fried foods
- Refined carbohydrates
- Baked goods
- Foods and drinks with added sugar
Can visceral fat cause pain? Visceral fat can cause pain because it produces more of certain proteins that inflame your body’s tissues and organs. This can lead to pain in the gut.
