The TRUTH About Belly Fat
We’ve all done it: That moment when you stand in front of the mirror and “pinch an inch,” squeezing the extra flesh around your midsection, imagining what you’d look like if you could just wave a magic wand and make it disappear. And it’s understandable – we’re human beings, and we’re visual creatures. It’s in our nature to seek out a svelter stomach, to try for a tighter tummy, to wish for a whittled waistline. And here’s the good news: It’s totally doable.=
But first I’d like to address why it’s so important to tackle belly fat. It’s an important issue, and not only for vanity’s sake. The fat around your midsection may just be hazardous to your health.
The fat around our abdominals is a two-parter: About 90% of it is subcutaneous: That’s the soft, fleshy fat just beneath the surface, the skin that we’re holding when we “pinch an inch.” Subcutaneous fat is the fat that lies just beneath the surface of the skin—it’s most often found in the lower part of the body, creating a “pear shape” effect.
We all know the saying “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” But in the case of belly fat, the devil you don’t know is that elusive, remaining 10%. It’s called visceral fat, and if that sounds like a frightening term, it’s for good reason. Visceral fat is the intra-abdominal fat that lies beneath the abdominal wall, just out of reach. It’s marbled around our organs, intestines and liver, and also lives inside a slab of tissue called the omentum found just behind our abdominals, covering our intestines. As we gain visceral fat, the omentum begins to thicken as it absorbs the fat.
The past two decades have seen important scientific studies revealing that fat is more than a gob of unused energy. Visceral fat cells act as an endocrine organ, releasing potentially harmful chemicals on the rest of the body. It sends fatty acids into the bloodstream, which can contribute to cholesterol. A 2010 study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology found that people with high levels of visceral fat are three times as likely to develop precancerous polyps in the colon. Visceral fat may also lead to an increase in the production of angiotensin – a hormone that raises blood pressure – and cytokines – proteins that have been linked to certain types of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and major depression.
Speaking of depression: Don’t let all these scary statistics get you down. You can beat belly fat. In fact, visceral fat is the easiest kind of fat to burn; losing it can be one of the easiest way to prevent or reverse health problems.