Obesity and Visceral Fat
I know that many people are struggling with weight gain and most recognize the risks of obesity. If a summer of activity hasn’t trimmed your waistline, though, this is the time to do something about it, before the fall and winter holiday seasons begin. Recently we have learned a lot more about the health risks of excess weight, in particular weight around the abdomen. Belly fat comes in two types, the surface fat immediately beneath your skin, and the deep visceral fat that surrounds your organs. Visceral fat is the most dangerous kind of fat for your body. It increases your heart disease risk, and may lead to insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.
For men, in particular, if you have a hard, solid beer belly, and your waist measurement is more than 40 inches, you’re heading for trouble. The more science understands about the dangerous health risks of excess visceral fat, the more you should want to do something about it. What can you do?
First, reduce stress. Stress increases cortisol, a hormone that plays a role in making you crave food while also increasing fat accumulation (among other effects). That’s two bad things from one hormone, so reducing cortisol will be an important ingredient in getting and staying thinner and healthier. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, massage, meditation and yoga are all effective ways to reduce stress.
Second, exercise is one of the best ways to help reduce deep belly fat. Even walking will help: just 30 days of walking 30 minutes each day can significantly reduce visceral fat. Having less visceral fat benefits your health even if you don’t lose weight, so forget about the scale and concentrate on reducing your waist measurement.
What’s really important is this: don’t ignore that spare tire. The more we learn about visceral fat and it’s involvement in heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia, the more reasons you have to lose that excess belly fat – or help someone else lose theirs.
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Chinese herbs do work because it is time tested.”;,