Last Updated on May 22, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
Love handles are not the only things you have to worry about when it comes to slimming the waist. Visceral fat is often just as difficult to get rid of, especially for those who suffer from high-levels of daily stress. What is it, and what does it do to you?
In reality, visceral fat can lead to a myriad of complications such as type 2 diabetes, various cancers and even Alzheimer’s disease. And this is on top of increasing the risks to various heart complications. [note]Health Line – https://www.healthline.com/health/visceral-fat#complications[/note]
It’s also why a lot of people have “barrel gut” even though the arms and legs are somewhat defined and toned. This is often a sign of not putting effort into core exercises as well.
What is Visceral Fat?
Visceral fat is the accumulation of fat within the muscle mass of the body. It’s often found pushing in between organs, such as the liver and intestines. Visceral fat can also be found collecting in the arteries.
Which is why it’s a problem for heart disease and attacks.
Unfortunately, visceral fat is known to compound problems with diabetes due to insulin resistance. This is because of the protein, retinol-binding protein 4, or RBP4. [note]Diabetes.co.uk – https://www.diabetes.co.uk/body/visceral-fat.html[/note]
One of the things that makes visceral fat so dangerous to the human body is because of the pressure it puts on internal organs. Some aspects of your body were never meant to be shoved around, and this lack of space makes it more difficult for organs to function properly.
Keep Calm and Stress Less
Stress increases the production of the hormone, cortisol. This component is what drives many people to put on weight, especially in the mid-section. In a study conducted at Yale University, even slender women can experience increased abdominal fat thanks to stress and cortisol. [note]Science Daily – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001120072314.htm[/note]
This makes getting rid of the excess body mass even more difficult as you need to monitor your emotions as well as your food. And because everyone secretes cortisol at different levels, everyone needs to adopt strategies based on their own biology.
In other words, it often takes trial and error to find the perfect anti-visceral fat plan for each person.
What Foods Help Get Rid of Visceral Fat?
One of the best ways to shed weight and rid yourself of unwanted visceral fat is by eating better. However, you don’t want to completely restrict yourself. If you deny the body certain components found in food, it will begin breaking down muscle mass instead of burning fat.
The trick is to find the perfect balance for your physiology. It’s a balance between intake and output and the right types of food for you.
Fewer Sugars
First, let me point out how the human body does need a certain level of sugar. Well, technically it’s the glucose that muscles and organs need to function. But glucose is derived from sugar. [note]Health Line – https://www.healthline.com/health/low-blood-sugar-effects-on-body#1[/note]
This doesn’t mean that you should pound down a slice of cake with heavy frosting every chance you get. Technically, you get sugar from a wide range of foods.
However, a lot of us go a little wild when it comes to snacking. And an excess of sugar can spearhead the development of visceral fat…on top of other issues as well.
You don’t have to cut sugar out completely, but you do want to cut back and find healthier ways to snack. Otherwise, it’ll be far more difficult to get rid of visceral fat.
Fruits and Veggies
Fruits and vegetables are amazing for any kind of diet plan. Not only are they full of nutrients and vitamins you desperately need, but each serving has far fewer calories when comparing volume.
For example, one York Peppermint Patty miniature is around 60 calories. One good-sized medium peach is about 60 to 70 calories. The volume of food in a peach is far greater than that of the York patty in terms of calories.
Fruits and vegetables don’t just give you nutrients. They fill the stomach while doing so without the junk which fuels visceral fat.
Drink Water
Water is one of those things your body needs plenty of. And no, you can’t count the water that’s used to make pop or alcohol.
The human body loves to be saturated, and water helps you get rid of the visceral fat that accumulates in various places on top of accumulated toxins and excess minerals.
Besides, being saturated is linked to a variety of health improvements including the health of your skin.
What Activities Are Good for Visceral Fat?
Methods for losing visceral fat are similar to subcutaneous fat. In fact, I haven’t found any “perfect” method for getting rid of visceral fat that’s not used for slimming down the waistline.
Essentially, you can approach it the same way you would deal with other forms of flab.
Increase Your Activity
One of the keys to burning fat of any kind is making sure your output is greater than your intake. This means making sure you’re burning more calories through physical activity than you’re consuming.
This is one of the biggest problems one-third of American’s have and why we are so overweight. It’s easy to overeat, especially in a society where $5 meal deals are advertised for quick lunches.
Unfortunately, many of these “deals” also contain more calories in one sitting than you’ll need for most of the day.
Make sure your physical activity surpasses what you eat. This is easy to do nowadays thanks to wearable technology like the Fitbit Charge 3 and other devices.
Although these are not absolutely perfect, they still give you an idea about how active you are.
And this doesn’t mean you have to grind out push-ups, sit-ups or jumping jacks. I’ve lost most of my weight simply by playing the Xbox Kinect 30 to 35 minutes per day.
Anything to work up a sweat is going to help burn away visceral fat.
Improve Sleep Patterns
Sleep is vital to the proper function of your body and mind. It also helps the body slow down the production of cortisol.
This is aside from the ability sleep has to cut your stress levels, which also affect cortisol.
The average adult should get between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. And speaking from experience, I feel better physically and mentally after a week of hitting more than seven hours each day.
Find a Better Way to Deal with Stress
Now here is one of the more important activities for getting rid of visceral fat – reduce your stress levels. It’s probably one of the more difficult as well, especially if you work in a tense industry or high-stress field.
Everyone is different when it comes to dealing with stress. Some have an exceptionally high tolerance to circumstances while others are easily affected. The bottom line is you need to cut the stress if you want to cut the visceral fat.
Remember, stress inspires cortisol to become active. The more stress you’re under, the more cortisol your body releases.
And during the holiday season, dealing with stress is often more difficult. So start finding good ways to handle before Halloween.
Visceral Fat is More than Just Flab
Visceral fat is a dangerous element in the human body. It’s bad on the organs, bad for the heart and keeps you from fitting in those nice clothes you have sat aside. Don’t underestimate the damage that is being caused internally.
Do what you can to rid your body of this silent killer.[template id=”3591″]
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