Visceral Fat: What It Is and How to Reduce It

Visceral fat is located inside the abdominal cavity and the accumulation of large amounts of it is extremely harmful. It is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even certain cancers. The good news is that there are proven strategies that can help you lose visceral fat.

Visceral fat is located inside your abdominal cavity and surrounds your internal organs. It is often difficult to estimate how much visceral fat we have. However, a big belly and wide waist are two signs that you have too much visceral fat.

Visceral fat produces inflammatory markers such as IL-6, IL-1β, PAI-I and TNF-α. Elevated levels of these markers are associated with the health problems described above.

Why is visceral fat harmful?

Fat cells do much more than just store excess energy. They also produce hormones and inflammatory substances. Visceral fat cells are particularly active and produce even more inflammatory markers such as IL-6, IL-1beta, PAI-1 and TNF-α. Over time, these hormones can promote long-term inflammation and increase the risk of chronic disease.

An example of this is heart disease. Long-term inflammation can cause atherosclerotic plaque to build up inside the arteries, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Atherosclerotic plaque is a combination of cholesterol and other substances. It grows over time and can eventually cause a thrombosis. When this happens, normal blood flow is blocked. In the coronary arteries, a clot can deprive the heart of oxygen and cause a heart attack.

Visceral fat also releases inflammatory markers and free fatty acids that are transported to the liver. This can cause fat to accumulate in the liver and potentially lead to hepatic insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

How to reduce visceral fat

Follow a low-carbohydrate diet

Low-carbohydrate diets are an effective way to reduce visceral fat. In fact, many studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets are more effective in reducing visceral fat than low-fat diets.

In an 8-week study involving 69 overweight men and women, scientists found that people who followed a low-carbohydrate diet lost 10% more visceral fat and 4.4% more total fat than those on a low-fat diet.

In addition, the ketogenic diet, which is a zero-carbohydrate diet (rather than simply reducing the amount of carbohydrates), can also help reduce visceral fat even more. Ketogenic diets drastically reduce carbohydrate intake and replace them with fat. This can put you in a natural metabolic state called ketosis. So the body learns to “burn” fat instead of glucose to produce energy.

A study involving 28 overweight and obese adults found that those who followed a ketogenic diet lost more visceral fat than people on a low-fat diet.

Do more aerobic exercise

Regular aerobic exercise is a great way to reduce visceral fat. In fact, many studies have shown that aerobic exercise can help you reduce it, even without a special diet.

For example, an analysis of 15 studies on 852 people compared how well different types of exercise reduced visceral fat without dieting.

They found that moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercises were more effective at reducing visceral fat without dieting. However, combining regular aerobic exercise with a healthy diet is more effective in losing visceral fat than following only one of the two.

If you want to do aerobic exercise, start with brisk walking, jogging or running at least two to three times a week.

Add more soluble fibre to your diet

Fiber can be divided into two broad categories – soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibre is mixed with water to form a gel-like substance. When soluble fibre reaches the large intestine, it undergoes fermentation by gut bacteria and is converted into specific short-chain fatty acids. These fatty acids are an important source of nutrition for the cells of the large intestine.

It is worth mentioning that they can also help reduce visceral fat by suppressing your appetite. For example, studies show that short-chain fatty acids help increase levels of satiety hormones such as cholecystokinin, GLP-1 and PYY.

They may also help to reduce levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. A study of 1,114 people found that simply increasing soluble fibre intake by 10 grams per day reduced the risk of visceral fat gain by up to 3.7%.

To increase your fiber intake, add more flaxseeds, sweet potatoes, legumes and grains to your diet. You can also try taking a soluble fibre supplement.

Get more protein

Protein is the most important nutrient for fat loss. Eating more protein can help reduce hunger pangs by increasing levels of the satiety hormones GLP-1, PYY and cholecystokinin. It can also help reduce levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.

Studies have shown that protein can help boost metabolism, which in turn promotes weight loss and visceral fat loss.

A study of 23,876 adults showed that a higher protein intake was associated with lower body mass index, higher “good” HDL cholesterol and lower waist circumference, which is an indicator of reduced visceral fat. To increase protein intake, try adding a protein source to each meal. Some great sources include meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes and whey protein.

Limit your sugar intake

Added sugar is proven to be very unhealthy. It provides no vitamins or minerals and its consumption leads to weight gain.

Studies have also shown that people who consume more added sugar tend to have more visceral fat. Added sugar contains about 50% fructose, a simple sugar that is metabolized by the liver. In large amounts, fructose can be converted into fat by the liver, which in turn leads to an increase in visceral fat.

Thus, eating less added sugar and fructose can be an effective way to lose visceral fat. For example, in a study of 41 children aged 9-18 years, scientists replaced fructose in their diets with starches that provided the same amount of calories. They found that this simple change reduced liver fat by 3.4% and visceral fat by 10.6% in just 10 days.

You can reduce your sugar intake by simply eating more raw natural foods, such as fresh vegetables, fruit, lean meat and fish.

Reduce alcohol

Drinking a small amount of alcohol, especially red wine, can have health benefits. However, drinking too much alcohol can harm your health, and several studies have shown that excessive alcohol consumption can significantly increase visceral fat.

A study of 8,603 Korean adults showed that people who drank the most alcohol had a larger waist circumference which is an indicator of increased visceral fat.

However, there are only a few studies on this topic. More studies will help clarify the relationship between alcohol intake and visceral fat.

Avoid trans fats

If there is one thing that health professionals agree on, it is that trans fats are harmful to your health. They are a type of artificial fat created by pumping hydrogen into vegetable oils. They are therefore also known as hydrogenated fats.

Trans fats do not spoil quickly and have a longer shelf life. This is why they are added to processed foods such as baked snacks and chips. However, studies have shown that trans fats can increase visceral fat which, as we saw above, can cause many health problems.

In a six-year study on monkeys, they were fed either a diet rich in artificial trans fats or monounsaturated fats. The monkeys who followed a diet rich in trans fats gained 33% more visceral fat than those who consumed monounsaturated fats, despite consuming the same number of calories.

In fact, they are so harmful that the US Food and Drug Administration had given food manufacturers three years from 2015 to either phase out trans fats from foods or apply for special approval.

Sleep more

A night of good sleep and rest can do wonders for your health. However, more than a third of adults today don’t get as much sleep as they should.

According to research, lack of sleep increases the chances of accumulating more visceral fat. Conversely, increasing sleep helps reduce it. A five-year study involving 293 people found that increasing sleep from 6 hours to 7-8 hours, an extra 1-2 hours a day, reduced visceral fat by about 26%.

In addition, several studies have linked sleep apnea, a condition that restricts breathing during sleep, with a higher risk of gaining visceral fat. If you have trouble getting enough sleep, try relaxing before bed or taking a magnesium supplement. You can also take melatonin and hydrolyzed collagen supplements a few hours before you go to bed, as these help you sleep deeper and longer. Also, avoid drinking caffeine 12 hours before you want to go to bed.

If you suspect you have sleep apnea or another sleep disorder, it is best to contact your doctor.

Reduce your stress levels

Stress is a common problem that affects many people and causes the body to produce more cortisol, a stress hormone. Studies have shown that excess cortisol can increase visceral fat storage. In addition, it can increase overeating, which in turn can exacerbate this problem.

Some proven strategies to reduce stress include increasing exercise more, yoga or meditation, or simply spending more time with friends and family.

Include probiotics in your diet

Probiotics are live bacteria that can benefit your gut and digestive health. They are found in foods like yogurt and kefir. Some studies show that probiotics can help you lose weight and visceral fat. This is because they can reduce dietary fat absorption in the gut, while increasing the amounts excreted with feces.

Studies have found that certain probiotic bacteria from the Lactobacillus family, such as Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus amylovorus, and especially Lactobacillus gasseri, can help you lose visceral fat.

For example, a study of 210 healthy Japanese adults investigated the effects of taking Lactobacillus gasseri over a 12-week period.

It found that people who took in Lactobacillus gasseri through their diet lost 8.5% more visceral fat. However, once the participants stopped taking the probiotic, they gained all the visceral fat back within a month.

Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a popular way to lose weight. It is an eating pattern that involves alternating between periods of eating and fasting. Unlike the traditional diet, intermittent fasting does not restrict any foods. It simply focuses on when you should eat them.

According to research, intermittent fasting can help you lose visceral fat. In fact, a large review of studies found that following intermittent fasting helped reduce visceral fat by 4-7% over a 6-24 week period.

Conclusion

Visceral fat is extremely harmful and can increase the risk of chronic diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even some cancers. Fortunately, there are proven strategies you can follow to help reduce visceral fat.

Some of these include eating fewer carbohydrates and less added sugar, doing more aerobic exercise, sleeping better and increasing your protein intake.