No surprise: exercise and diet. Staying physically active throughout the day as well as scheduling time for structured exercise may be even more important than diet.

Research suggests that fat cells — particularly abdominal fat cells — are biologically active. It's appropriate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health.

Although scientists are still deciphering the roles of individual hormones, it's becoming clear that excess body fat, especially abdominal fat, disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones. Scientists are also learning that visceral fat pumps out immune system chemicals called cytokines — for example, tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 — that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

These and other biochemicals are thought to have deleterious effects on cells' sensitivity to insulin, blood pressure, and blood clotting. One reason excess visceral fat is so harmful could be its location near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver.

Substances released by visceral fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids.

Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL bad cholesterol, lower HDL good cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your body's muscle and liver cells don't respond adequately to normal levels of insulin, the pancreatic hormone that carries glucose into the body's cells.

Glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes. Now for the good news. So what can we do about tubby tummies? A lot, it turns out. The starting point for bringing weight under control, in general, and combating abdominal fat, in particular, is regular moderate-intensity physical activity — at least 30 minutes per day and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day to control weight and lose belly fat.

Strength training exercising with weights may also help fight abdominal fat. Spot exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles, but it won't get at visceral fat.

Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined-grain pasta, and sugary drinks.

Replacing saturated fats and trans fats with polyunsaturated fats can also help. Scientists hope to develop drug treatments that target abdominal fat. For now, experts stress that lifestyle, especially exercise, is the very best way to fight visceral fat. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.

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What parents need to know. That can make it more challenging to maintain a healthy weight. Many women notice an increase in belly fat as they get older even if they don't gain weight. This is likely due to a lower level of estrogen because estrogen seems to have an effect on where fat is located in the body.

Genes can contribute to an individual's chances of being overweight or obese too. It also plays a role in where the body stores fat. Subcutaneous fat is belly fat you can feel if you pinch extra skin and tissue around your middle.

Visceral fat is fat that builds up deep within the abdomen in the space around the organs. Too much visceral fat is strongly linked with a higher risk of serious health problems.

The trouble with belly fat is that it's not limited to the layer of padding just below the skin. That's called subcutaneous fat. Belly fat also includes visceral fat. And that lies deep inside the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs. For women, a waist measurement of more than 35 inches 89 centimeters signals an unhealthy amount of belly fat and a greater risk of health problems.

In general, though, the greater the waist measurement, the higher the health risks. You can strengthen and tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other exercises focused on your belly. But doing those exercises alone won't get rid of belly fat.

The good news is that visceral fat responds to the same diet and exercise strategies that can help get rid of other extra pounds and lower total body fat. Try these tips:. Losing belly fat takes effort and patience. To lose extra fat and keep it from coming back, aim for slow and steady weight loss.

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Sections Basics Women's health Breast health Women's life stages In-Depth Expert Answers Multimedia Resources News From Mayo Clinic. Products and services. Belly fat in women: Taking — and keeping — it off What does your waistline say about your health? By Mayo Clinic Staff.

Enlarge image Belly fat Close. Belly fat Subcutaneous fat is belly fat you can feel if you pinch extra skin and tissue around your middle. Thank you for subscribing! Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Show references Perreault L.

Obesity in adults: Prevalence, screening, and evaluation. Accessed Feb. Perreault L, et al. Overweight and obesity in adults: Health consequences. Understanding adult overweight and obesity.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders. Department of Health and Human Services and U. Department of Agriculture. Insulin resistance and prediabetes. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Successful weight loss depends largely on becoming more aware of your behaviors and starting to change them. Instead of relying on willpower, this process demands skill power. This Special Health Report, Lose Weight and Keep It Off , offers a range of solutions that have worked for many people and can be tailored to your needs.

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What is a tongue-tie? What parents need to know. Which migraine medications are most helpful? How well do you score on brain health? Shining light on night blindness. Can watching sports be bad for your health? Beyond the usual suspects for healthy resolutions. April 12, Unlike fat parked on the hips and thighs, fat around the middle produces substances that can create serious health risks.

Where's the fat? The trouble with visceral fat Body fat, or adipose tissue, was once regarded as little more than a storage depot for fat blobs waiting passively to be used for energy. Gut check A tape measure is your best home option for keeping tabs on visceral fat.

From fat to disease Visceral fat can be measured in a variety of ways. Visceral fat is implicated in a number of chronic conditions, including these: Cardiovascular disease. How lose and prevent visceral belly fat Where you tend to gain fat depends on your genes, your hormones, your age, your birth weight smaller babies more readily add belly fat later in life , and whether you've had children women who have given birth tend to develop more visceral fat than women who haven't.

Here are some approaches that may help: Keep moving. Share This Page Share this page to Facebook Share this page to Twitter Share this page via Email. Print This Page Click to Print.

Related Content. Heart Health. Staying Healthy. You might also be interested in…. Lose Weight and Keep It Off Successful weight loss depends largely on becoming more aware of your behaviors and starting to change them.

Free Healthbeat Signup Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox! Newsletter Signup Sign Up. Close Thanks for visiting. The Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness , is yours absolutely FREE when you sign up to receive Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health , plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise , pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more.

I want to get healthier. Close Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss Close Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School. At one time, we might have accepted these changes as an inevitable fact of aging.

But we've now been put on notice that as our waistlines grow, so do our health risks. Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it's a key player in a variety of health problems — much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand.

Visceral fat, on the other hand, lies out of reach, deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs.

Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery.

Fat accumulated in the lower body the pear shape is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area the apple shape is largely visceral. Where fat ends up is influenced by several factors, including heredity and hormones. As the evidence against abdominal fat mounts, researchers and clinicians are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and overall weight gain or loss.

The fat you can pinch is subcutaneous fat. The fat inside your belly the visceral fat can be seen and measured, but not pinched.

How do you lose belly fat? No surprise: exercise and diet. Staying physically active throughout the day as well as scheduling time for structured exercise may be even more important than diet. Research suggests that fat cells — particularly abdominal fat cells — are biologically active.

It's appropriate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health.

Although scientists are still deciphering the roles of individual hormones, it's becoming clear that excess body fat, especially abdominal fat, disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones.

Scientists are also learning that visceral fat pumps out immune system chemicals called cytokines — for example, tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 — that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. These and other biochemicals are thought to have deleterious effects on cells' sensitivity to insulin, blood pressure, and blood clotting.

One reason excess visceral fat is so harmful could be its location near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver. Substances released by visceral fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids.

Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL bad cholesterol, lower HDL good cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your body's muscle and liver cells don't respond adequately to normal levels of insulin, the pancreatic hormone that carries glucose into the body's cells.

Glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes. Now for the good news. So what can we do about tubby tummies?

Burning those extra calories can help you achieve and maintain a healthier weight in conjunction with regular cardiovascular exercise and a healthy diet. A recent study of 70, individuals showed that those getting less than five hours of sleep were more likely to gain 30 or more pounds.

So far, there is not one single drug that is approved by the Federal Drug Administration for the reduction of belly fat. Supplements claiming a "one trick solution" to belly fat are not strictly regulated, and a lot of the claims made in the ads are not backed up by research.

The bottom line is that when it comes to belly fat, the answer is not in drugs or supplements. Enjoying a healthy lifestyle should be the focus. And while that's not as simple as swallowing a pill, the benefits will last a lifetime.

Losing Belly Fat. Home RUSH Stories Losing Belly Fat. Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to LinkedIn Share via Email. By Judy Germany. In short, no. Yeah, we were bummed to hear that too. First of all, what is belly fat? There are different types of fat: Subcutaneous fat Subcutaneous fat is the looser fat that lets you "pinch an inch" and can accumulate just under the skin Intramuscular fat Intramuscular fat is found within the skeletal muscles Visceral fat Visceral fat is the packed between your abdominal organs stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.

So, no, there's not. But here's what you can do. Start simple Typically there are many things you may need to improve to lose belly fat. Target sugar One good place to begin improving your food choices is to eliminate sugary drinks — and not just soda, but juices.

Go Mediterranean The popular "flat belly diets"embrace much of the wisdom found in eating a Mediterranean diet, which helps everything from brain health to hearth health.

Front-load your meal Start your meal, especially your largest meal, with seasoned vegetables, be it vegetable soup or the vegetables on your entrée plate.

Commit to a physical lifestyle The single most important thing people can do to prevent the buildup of belly fat and get rid of existing belly fat is commit to physical activity, and better yet, a physical lifestyle. For both men and women, the first fat you lose when you exercise is visceral fat.

Move around, fidget Here's something else most people probably don't know: Fidgeting is good for you. And try not to sit too much Studies have shown that people who sit eight to nine hours a day, even if they exercise the recommended minutes per week, do not get the same benefits of exercising as people who are more active throughout the day.

If you have to sit most of the day for your job, try to find some ways to move: Take small breaks throughout the day to walk around Use your lunch hour to take a longer walk Take the stairs instead of the elevator, if possible Do stretching exercises at your desk Just do your best to move around as much as you can 8.

Redefine 'rest' Having an active hobby — and if you don't already have one, developing one — is important. Don't rely on sit-ups to give you a six-pack Unfortunately, sit-ups and crunches can't eliminate visceral fat directly.

Develop more muscle While sit-ups can't "target" belly fat, what they can do is help you burn calories, strengthen your core and develop more muscle. Get some sleep A recent study of 70, individuals showed that those getting less than five hours of sleep were more likely to gain 30 or more pounds.

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