As a general rule, excessive visceral fat is an indicator of bad life habits such as an unhealthy diet and a lack of physical exercise. This has negative effects on several dimensions, such as aesthetics, and a more important one, which concerns your health and should be your main concern.
Contents
What is Visceral Fat?
Visceral fat is concretely located on the abdominal area and surrounds the internal organs. It is not superficial fat, which means that someone can look thin and actually have unhealthy levels of visceral fat, making it more dangerous than normal fat.
Most commonly, excess amounts of visceral fat manifests in a big belly. The risks associated with it increase as people age, making it very important to carefully follow quantity levels and avoid potentially disastrous consequences.
Source: bodybuilding-wizard.com
Why is Visceral Fat Dangerous?
Fat is a natural component of your body and it is not unhealthy under certain limits. Visceral fat, however, is not normal fat, and it is unhealthy under any levels, whether great or small. Of course, the more you have of it, the more dangerous it becomes. Excessive visceral fat has been linked to illnesses and conditions as serious as:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Strokes and heart failure
- Cancer
- Psychological troubles
How to Know If You Have an Excess of Visceral Fat?
We have already mentioned that visceral fat can be hard to detect due to it being under the superficial skin layer where normal fat is stored. Even worse, you might have unhealthy levels of it and not know it.
The bad news is that it is very difficult to determine whether this is your case through traditional methods. Checking your BMI can be a good indicator, but you should not rely on it. We recommend going to a specialist to get a better check.
The way professionals test this is generally by measuring your waist size and dividing it by your hip size. The result should be approximately 0.95 for men and 0.88 for women. If your value is higher than this, you might have excessive visceral fat.
Source: fitwirr.com
10 Best Tips to Eliminate Visceral Fat
If you have visceral fat, you want to get rid of it as soon as possible. So let’s check how to do this in the most effective and healthy way.
1. Eat More Fiber
Fiber is protein-rich and low in calories, but there’s more to it. Soluble fiber mixes with water inside your organism and increases in density, which slows down your digestive process. This has positive effects on your metabolism and reduces calorie intake. Through an intestinal metamorphosis into fatty acids, fibers will also reduce your appetite and reduce the quantity of ghrelin, known as ‘the hunger hormone.’
2. Cut Down Sugar
Sugar is great of course, but it is quite unhealthy too. And so addictive that it is used everywhere, including in bread. So this point is not as easy as it may first seem. It is not enough to go for Coke Zero. Thankfully, there’s many ways to make your food sweeter without relying on sugar, such as using saccharin.
Source: fun4fitness.com
3. Have a Protein Rich Diet
Protein is not only low in calories but also very healthy and beneficial for the organism. Recent studies have even shown that it is better in terms of energy, much more so than carbohydrates, as generally believed. Protein breaks down fat too, and it also decreases the quantity of ghrelin on the organism. In a nutshell, higher protein in your organism can help your metabolism, increase your overall energy and lead you to lose weight and cut down on visceral fat.
4. Drink Less Alcohol
This is a bummer for many out there, but unfortunately it is an absolute must. First of all because your organism transforms alcohol into sugar when it is absorbed, and so the point number 2 of our list applies again. Alcohol will also make you more hungry, and can turn you into a depressed and aggressive individual when excessively used, so better cut down on it.
5. Get Better Sleep
As incredible as it sounds, more sleep can translate into weight loss and visceral fat reduction. Conversely, not enough sleep can increase your visceral fat and it also translates into lower energy, which means less sport, and the possibility of entering a vicious cycle.
Source: helpguide.org
6. Eliminate Stress
Stress is very unhealthy on many levels and should be dealt with without hesitation. For instance, it can stimulate the adrenal glands, causing cortisol production to peak. A clear correlation has been found between cortisol levels and visceral fat, so this is not to be undervalued. Furthermore, stressed people have a tendency to eat more, so make sure to do more exercise, meditate, and do yoga, or paint, whatever works to eliminate stress.
7. Exercise
You guessed it. Cardio training is a great and even necessary supplement to diet in order to cut down on visceral fat. Not only that, but sports training will make you feel better about yourself, energyzed, more calm and will help you with stress too. Yes, it’s all beneficial. Our advice is to choose a sport you can do with friends, such as basketball, football or any of your preference, to make it seamless and more enjoyable.
8. High Intensity Training Intervals
This is not for unmotivated people, but extremely effective if you put the effort into it and go with a winner mentality. High intensity training intervals are the best proven way to maximize fat burning results to cardio, so make sure to give it a thought.
Source: hrtcenter.com
9. Improve Your Hormone Levels
High levels of visceral fat can also be due to hormonal issues, which can only increase as you get older. Despite this being a natural process, there’s still ways to influence it to your advantage. Let’s take the typical example. Testosterone and estrogen reductions in men and women is linked to visceral fat increases. Through hormone therapy or naturally, you can increase testosterone or estrogen and solve the issue.
10. Fat Reduction Surgery
Due to all sorts of constraints, which range from financial, genetic or time constraints, people find it extremely difficult to burn visceral fat. Well, big problems need big solutions. Liposuction is an effective surgery that can permanently rid you of excessive fat. Currently, affordable options overseas have made this surgery more easily accessible to a wider public. This explains the high volume of patients travelling to Istanbul for the procedure after realizing how much does liposuction cost.
Conclusion
With the right mentality and a good strategy, visceral fat can be easily eliminated. Don’t hesitate to consult a doctor or hire a personal trainer or dietitian if you want fast results. This is not investing in a superfluous product, but in your own health. We hope to have provided you with some useful tips to help you, thanks for reading!
