The Dangers of Visceral Fat

February 10, 2009

When health or fashion gurus mention apple-shaped and pear-shaped body types, they are actually talking about the location of fat deposit in an individual’s body. Apple-shaped obesity or central obesity is the accumulation of fat in the center of the body, which results in an increase in the waist size and causes the abdomen to protrude. In contrast, pear-shaped obesity is characterized by concentration of fat around the hip and buttock area. The only problem is that normal weight scales can’t pick up on the difference.

In general, fat is classified into different types, depending upon their location in the human body. Abdominal visceral fat is packed in between internal organs in the torso. Subcutaneous fat collects under the skin and intramuscular fat is scattered in the skeletal muscle. As visceral fat is more deeply embedded in the body tissues, it is difficult to lose it. The liver metabolizes visceral fat and releases it into the blood stream in the form of cholesterol. It is the bad cholesterol or Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) that builds up in to a plaque and clogs up arteries. Gradually, this causes a range of ailments, like hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and stroke.

Bear in mind that the visceral fat deposit is not always clearly visible. The visceral fat level range can be accurately measured by an imaging machine only. Even if you are within the healthy weight range, you might still have high abdominal visceral fat level. For visceral fat makes up your body weight rather than muscle mass. Nowadays, there are body fat scales that help you accurately measure the body fat percentage and specifically visceral fat. Omron HBF 500 Fat Scale is a perfect body composition monitor, which has a range of features to help you keep a tab on various parameters, like skeletal muscle and resting metabolism, in addition to your body weight, body fat, and visceral fat.

To reduce the abdominal visceral fat, fairly fast-paced walking for half an hour a day has shown effective results. So, put on your walking shoes for some brisk walking to control visceral fat level. The Omron HBF Body Fat Scale will tell you how much to reduce!!