Beating Fat by Understanding the Fat Metabolism
Undoubtedly, visceral body fat poses health risks. Tapping into our belly fat can be challenging if don’t meet the fat-burning requirements of the body. Abdominal fat is extra obstinate due to the hormonal effects of insulin and cortisol hormones coded in our survival system. However, with a few practical lifestyle adjustments, it is possible to melt visceral fat and prevent its accumulation.
While some of us want to lose belly fat for aesthetic reasons, my goal is for health reasons. Many resources that I reviewed point out that visceral fat, significantly enlarging our waistline, can cause serious health issues. Major risk factors for visceral fat are unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, excessive alcohol use, chronic stress, and chronic inflammation as mentioned in this story with facts backed by World Health Organization.
Body fat is essential. In addition to serving as a natural energy source, our body needs some fat under the skin for various reasons. For example, our organs need fat as padding to protect them from external pressure. So subcutaneous fat under the skin serves this purpose. However, visceral fat is accumulated around the organs. So when visceral fat passes the threshold, our metabolic risks significantly increase.
As mentioned by an article by Harvard Medical School titled Visceral fat more of a health concern than subcutaneous fat, “Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery.”
Fat metabolism and profile is a complex and comprehensive topic. Fat metabolism has an impact on our physical and mental health. Therefore, I plan to introduce white fat versus brown fat in another article. By the way, I prefer brown fat as it has more mitochondria. In the meantime, here are the five tips that helped me keep my visceral fat at an optimal state.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz 