Do you know anyone with a “beer belly” that is round and hard (like a watermelon)? This person has dangerously high visceral fat—the fat underneath the abdominals that surrounds the vital organs; it’s dense and pushes out the abdominal wall. The type of fat you can pinch, that’s soft and marshmallow like, is more an eyesore than it is a serious health risk.
Although losing the subcutaneous soft fat is desirable and promotes better health and well-being, targeting visceral fat has been more of a cause of strife, riddled with failed attempts. One research team sought to identify what is the most effective way to fight internal, visceral fat.
Research from the National Institute of Health explains that excessive visceral fat is correlated with development of insulin resistance, diabetes type 2, heart diseases and cancer. Visceral fat cells tend to produce pro-inflammatory compounds like IL 6 and TNF-a, among others.
“Visceral fat can affect local organs or the entire body system. Systemically it can affect your heart and liver, as well as abdominal organs,” said senior author and cardiologist Dr. Ian J. Neeland, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. “When studies use weight or body mass index as a metric, we don’t know if the interventions are reducing fat everywhere in the body, or just near the surface.”
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center analyzed two types of interventions—lifestyle modification (exercise) and pharmacological (medicine)—to learn how best to defeat fat lying deep in the belly. They evaluated changes in visceral fat in 3,602 men and women over a six-month period measured by a CT or MRI exam. Both exercise and medicines resulted in less visceral fat, but the reductions were more significant per pound of body weight lost with exercise.
“The location and type of fat is important. If you just measure weight or BMI (body mass index), you can underestimate the benefit to your health of losing weight,” said Neeland. “Exercise can actually melt visceral fat.”
Neeland noted researchers previously thought of fat as inert storage, but over the years this view evolved and fat is now seen as an active organ. “Some people who are obese get heart disease, diabetes, or metabolic syndrome—and others don’t,” he observed. “Our study suggests that a combination of approaches can help lower visceral fat and potentially prevent these diseases.”
Rao, et al. “Effect of Exercise and Pharmacological Interventions on Visceral Adiposity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Long-term Randomized Controlled Trials.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2019; 94 (2): 211 DOI: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.09.019.
