Being overweight is bad for our health. Especially the inner abdominal fat, also called visceral fat, is particularly dangerous and can be the cause of various diseases.
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What is belly fat?
Visceral fat is internal abdominal fat that poses health risks. At first glance, the internal abdominal fat cannot be recognized because it is located in the abdominal cavity and accumulates around the internal organs – i.e. the intestines and liver. In addition to an unhealthy lifestyle, which favors obesity, age, genes and hormones also play a decisive role in whether we tend to have internal abdominal fat or not.
Dangerous belly fat: These diseases threaten
Compared to the fat on the legs and buttocks, visceral fat is significantly unhealthier because it is particularly metabolically active. This means that it forms messenger substances that influence processes in the body – and unfortunately no positive ones. For example, silent inflammatory processes are promoted. Affected people often feel tired, suffer from joint problems and insomnia. The reason: Due to the long-term inflammation, the immune system is constantly weakened.
Belly fat promotes cardiovascular disease
In addition, the release of messenger substances increases blood pressure and blood lipid levels. These elevated cholesterol levels can damage your blood vessels and trigger cardiovascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) or complete blockage of blood vessels (heart attack, stroke).
The more abdominal fat there is, the higher the risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Normally, the thyroid, pancreas, pituitary or adrenal glands produce hormones. However, visceral fat is also able to produce hormones. Hormones in the wrong amount can cause chronic diseases and also cause impotence, cause dementia or increase insulin resistance.
How to tell if you have internal belly fat
Your own waist circumference is a good indicator of whether you have too much belly fat. Men with a circumference of more than 94 centimeters have an increased health risk , for women a waist circumference of 80 centimeters or more is questionable. But slim people can also carry visceral fat. A blood test that determines your blood lipid levels is therefore informative.
A balanced and healthy diet and regular exercise help to reduce belly fat.
You can find out more about this topic here: Avoid these weight loss mistakes to get rid of stubborn belly fat >>
