It is said you can even be skinny yet have visceral fat. It's called TOFI - thin on the outside, fat on the inside! I doubt if it works the other way round - if you are obese IMO you are pretty sure to have visceral fat as well.
https://www.supplementplace.co.uk/blog/visceral-fat-measurement/
Measuring Visceral Fat: The Inside Story
16th Sep 2016 |
Admin
They say ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ but when it comes to the store of fat hiding within the muscle walls of your abdomen, you really do need to know about it. Learning to assess your visceral fat level is a positive move in the quest to protect yourself from the types of disease linked to this particular form of obesity.
We come in all shapes and sizes, and because visceral fat is buried deep inside our body, it is extremely difficult for health organisations to produce valid charts identifying it simply by using measurements of weight, height and gender. The fat that clings to our heart, liver and pancreas is a very individual commodity, and this is why a guide that fits everyone cannot be accurate.
The kind of fat known as visceral, or visceral adipose tissue (VAT) to use the clinical term, is the stuff that wraps around your abdominal organs. VAT is also sometimes known as ‘active’ fat because it doesn’t just lie there dormant; it releases acids which are then metabolised by the liver, causing hormonal problems such as insulin resistance. The presence of high levels of VAT can also result in too much fat in the bloodstream leading to
hyperlipidaemia and
type 2 diabetes.
Cardiovascular problems, pancreatitis, fatty liver and gall bladder disease can also be a result of persistently high levels of visceral fat. It has also been found to be a pre-curser to Alzheimer’s disease and certain cancers.
· The Tape Measure Test
This is one method of measuring visceral fat which costs nothing. It is a guide recommended by dieticians, and can be easily carried out at home to provide a fairly good idea of what proportion of your abdominal fat is subcutaneous (that which is stored beneath the skin) and what percentage is visceral.
Here’s what to do to take these measurements:
- Firstly, take the circumference measurement of both your waist and your hips at their largest point
- Next, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement
- If the ratio is higher than 1.0 for men and 0.85 for women then the amount of fat is considered excessive, i.e. for men a ratio of 36/40 is good, but some of this fat may still be subcutaneous
- To further refine the measurement and get a greater accuracy of visceral fat, measure your stomach while standing up and then measure it again when lying down. Subcutaneous fat will settle out to the sides of your stomach but visceral fat will not move
- The difference between your standing up and lying down measurement tells you how much of your stomach fat is the visceral kind
Where do we go from Here?
Once you have established whether your own visceral fat store is at a healthy level, or that you need to concentrate your efforts on burning the excess amount, you will at least be able to go forward in a position of knowledge bringing strength. It has been conclusively established that simply controlling food is not enough.
Regular exercise is the secret to getting rid of dangerous levels of abdominal fat and it is those who remain slim by diet alone who are most at risk. So finding an exercise routine that suits your age and physical ability, with the prospect of building on it as your strength improves, is the best way to begin to whittle away your visceral fat.
Eating a diet consisting of plenty of vegetables, particularly those which contain soluble fibre, will help greatly with the burning of abdominal fat. Many vegetables fall into the category of containing soluble fibre but some are particularly useful. Foods such as oats and oatbran, legumes, Brussels sprouts (cooked), avocado and passion fruit have high amounts of soluble fibre. It is also possible to take a
natural dietary supplement to give yourself the soluble fibre you need so that if your diet is not always right on the mark, or you struggle with eating large amounts of the appropriate foods, you are covered.
