Waist Circumference is a strong predictor of your risk for diseases such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. You’re at increased risk if you’re a man with a waist measurement of more than 102 cm or 40 inches, you’re a woman with a waist measurement of more than 88 cm or 35 inches.
Persons of Chinese or South Asian descent, the measurements are different waist measurements for these groups. Men with a waist measurement more than 90 cm or 35 inches, women with a waist measurement more than 80 cm or 32 inches.
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of relative weight based on an individual’s height and weight. The BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people, but it does not work as well for people who have large muscles, such as athletes… A study showed that the area (cm2) covered by abdominal subcutaneous fat was related to insulin resistance: -men with 516 cm2 had borderline values; -women with 935 cm2 had severe insulin resistance.
Possibly more important than the amount of fat is its location and type.
Subcutaneous fat is harmless, visceral fat is not… It was also found that by measuring waist circumference instead of BMI, more men were identified as having excess or high levels of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). A higher waist circumference increased the risk for metabolic syndrome in women and in both genders combined (i.e., even when their BMI did not meet current diagnostic criteria)
Subcutaneous fat is the layer of fat directly below the skin. It’s also known as “hypodermis” and can be up to 10 cm thick… For example, thin people with large muscles and low body fat levels have a fairly high subcutaneous fat percentage because skeletal muscles are very fatty tissue… Excess amounts of subcutaneous fat are not considered dangerous to our health…
Fat under the skin is different from visceral adipose tissue, which hangs around internal organs and makes up about 40% of an obese person’s weight.
Lean individuals will have only about 10% of their weight in visceral fat, but this is not true for obese people. Visceral adipose tissue lies deep within the abdomen, surrounding internal organs and is sometimes called intra-abdominal or abdominal subcutaneous fat. Visceral adipose tissue contains a higher proportion of lipid than subcutaneous adipose tissue, and has a greater capacity to expand until it alters organ structure.
VAT is much more likely to be found in people who are overweight or obese than those who are slimmer. In other words, VAT seems to result from carrying excess weight rather than causing obesity – which means that losing it may be one of the best ways of controlling blood sugar.
The problem with identifying subcutaneous fat lies in its location just under the skin. While we can pinch an inch around someone’s waist or upper arm for a quick assessment of how much they have, visceral fat (which is less visible) isn’t easy to measure on patients.
HOW CLINIC provides the ability to accurately measure visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue levels, in a single 17-second scan on the mBCA 514. The data is collected through a series of electrodes built into the device. The painless process is completed in a comfortable standing position, only requiring the patient to remove socks and shoes. The device is equipped with multiple sensor locations, allowing comfort and adjustability for a variety of users. It has proven to be a less intimidating, fast, and accurate method of analyzing body composition.
The key factor in visceral adipose tissue is where the fat is stored in abdominal deposits around organs such as the liver and digestive system rather than under the skin. This visceral fat is so different from subcutaneous fat which lies just beneath our skin “the most dangerous fat of all”.
While we know that fat stored in our abdomen is particularly harmful, it’s less clear where visceral fat comes from in the first place.
While there appears to be a strong genetic component, some experts believe that environmental factors may also trigger VAT accumulation. However, keeping an eye on waist circumference could be used as a simple gauge for risk since having more fat around your middle than you should has been shown to sharply raise your chances for heart disease and stroke (6).
Recent research suggests that carrying extra pounds may also increase insulin resistance which can lead to diabetes – even at lower BMIs. In one study, researchers found that people with higher BMI but still within the normal range (19-25) were more likely to have high insulin levels and two genes linked with diabetes than those at the low end of the BMI scale (7).
It has been found that individuals with waist circumference more than 88 cm are at risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. With fat cells flaring, you can add some problems with joint and muscle pain and stiffness. Visceral Adipose Tissue leads to obesity!!!
Research has shown that people who have higher levels of fat around their stomachs, “visceral fat”, are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (1), and that women store excess body fat in the upper body while men tend to accumulate it mostly in their waistline.
Visceral adipose tissue is thought to be particularly harmful because its location deep within the abdomen may cause hormonal imbalances. VAT seems to release proteins into the bloodstream, some of which contribute to high blood pressure, inflammation and other cardiovascular issues. VAT also produces substances known as cytokines which increase insulin resistance; having too much visceral fat can lead to a condition called metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes (2). In fact, VAT is so closely connected with insulin resistance, and the problems which can result from it (heart disease, diabetes), that some experts believe we should be measuring levels of VAT to identify those people at risk.
Visceral obesity has also been linked to heart disease: having excess VAT has been shown to raise your odds for dying prematurely by two-thirds (5), partly due to the increased risk of developing diabetes. Visceral adipose tissue is also linked to increased CRP levels (C-reactive Protein), which are a marker for inflammation in the body, and increase risk of heart disease.
The ways to reduce visceral fat are to do with what you put in your mouth, and how active you are.
If you eat a lot of saturated fats, you will accumulate visceral fat. The less amount of refined carbohydrates that you ingest also helps reduce visceral fat. Eating lots of dairy products will increase it as well.
Activity has an overall effect on your body weight and Visceral Adipose Tissue (VAT). You must have guessed by now that there’s no way out of the VAT without exercise!
It is difficult to change your work schedule at this point in time but if possible then waking up early for some physical activity and then getting up early in the morning will have a tremendous effect on your body. Walking or jogging when the weather is pleasant instead of taking transport helps reduce VAT accumulation. Staying active even after you reach home or to-from work by stairs, jumping rope etc can be done. Stretching also reduces VAT and it is advised that this is practiced frequently during work hours too.
Reduction of VAT can be effected through lifestyle modification such as diet and exercise. However, these are long term processes which require persistence and motivation for attaining results.
REFERENCES:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15913308
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11992772
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12931736
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16489589
5 . http://www.ajcn.org/content/81/2/327S-c
6 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome#Pathophysiology
