How to eliminate excess visceral fat? Experts suggest...

Taiwan is a food paradise where you can easily satisfy your appetite anytime and anywhere. However, if you eat too much and are too lazy to move, especially if you don't want to sit when you can lie down, and don't want to stand when you can sit, then naturally there will be a very obvious circle of fat on both sides of your lower abdomen when you sit down.

If you continue to live this kind of lifestyle over the years, you may soon find that your beer belly has grown so big that you can't even see your toes. Generally, in addition to obesity problems, this type of people are also more likely to suffer from high blood lipids, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high uric acid, sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, degenerative arthritis, and chronic diseases such as cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, etc.

The bigger the waist circumference, the more visceral fat

Due to eating too many calories and lack of exercise, coupled with the lower basal metabolic rate after middle age, fat accumulates in the waist and abdomen, causing abdominal obesity. When it comes to abdominal obesity, in addition to visible fat, the most worrying thing is the invisible visceral fat. The longer this excess fat accumulates in the abdominal organs, the greater the threat to cardiovascular health.

In Taiwanese, there is a saying: "A big belly means a short life", which actually means that visceral fat is mainly concentrated near the belly. Because most blood fat will accumulate around organs such as the liver, it will not only form a beer belly, but may also cause problems such as fatty liver. This body shape with a fat belly like a beer barrel or an apple is very common among middle-aged men.

Generally, obese people have high blood fat levels and poor insulin function. When fat accumulates in muscle tissue or organs related to blood lipid metabolism, such as the liver, it will form "insulin resistance", causing abnormal blood fat and blood sugar metabolism. Therefore, people with high blood fat levels will often also have problems with high blood sugar.

Because obesity has a significant impact on the heart and blood vessels, the American Heart Association redefined obesity as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in 1998. In other words, obesity, like high blood pressure and diabetes, is a disease that requires more attention.

Slim people should also be careful about high blood lipids

Skinny people will be the happiest to hear this news, because they can never gain weight. But do slim people not have to worry about visceral fat and high blood fat?

In fact, high blood lipids are not just a problem for fat people. Even many thin people have problems with high blood lipids and excessive visceral fat. According to a survey conducted by the National Health Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in Taiwan is 20%, which means that one in every five adults has too much oil in their blood.

People with normal weight or thin appearance usually have less sense of crisis when it comes to diet control. In addition to not deliberately avoiding fried foods, they often do not abstain from food and have big meals or midnight snacks every day, or even have many social engagements. If you don't change your eating habits and avoid high-sugar or high-fat foods, be careful that you may soon develop high blood lipid problems.

Waist-to-hip ratio reflects the degree of abdominal obesity

Since both fat and thin people may have high blood lipid problems, how do you know if your visceral fat level is too high? A more accurate method is to use computerized tomography (CT) to make a judgment, but it is too expensive and there are concerns about radiation, so it is not recommended.

In fact, the simplest and most convenient detection method is to calculate the waist-to-hip ratio, which is the value obtained by dividing the waist circumference by the hip circumference. The standard value of waist-to-hip ratio for men is less than 0.9, and the standard value for women is less than 0.8. If these two values ​​are exceeded, it means that the fat accumulated in the abdomen is too high.

In addition, waist circumference can also reflect the degree of abdominal obesity. According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, adult women in my country are considered obese if their waist circumference exceeds 80 cm (about 31.5 inches) and adult men are considered obese if their waist circumference exceeds 90 cm (about 35.5 inches).

Eliminate visceral fat, start with brisk walking

As for how to reduce visceral fat? Since the way the body stores fat is determined by genes, that is to say, when some people get fat, they will first get fat in the face, then in the arms, thighs, stomach and other parts of the body, but some people will first get fat in the stomach, lower abdomen and other parts of the waist and abdomen. However, unfortunately, when losing weight, the order is exactly reversed. People who gain weight in the face first and then in the belly will lose weight in the belly first and then in the face. Therefore, from a genetic point of view, if you want to lose weight in a certain area first, you have to see if that area happens to be the same as the area determined by the genes.

However, the correct concept of weight loss should be to first confirm whether your BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio are within the standard range. If any of the standards are exceeded, you need to do more than 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, such as cycling, swimming, etc., to help consume excess calories and burn fat in order to achieve the goal of overall weight loss.

But people who don’t have the habit of exercising should not rush it. It is recommended to start with a 15-minute walk or brisk walk every day. Just maintaining 15 minutes of exercise every day can increase insulin sensitivity and reduce "insulin resistance". Once you have established an exercise habit, you can gradually increase the exercise time and intensity based on your own situation.

While continuing to exercise, be sure to control your food intake and reduce your calorie intake. But eating less does not mean eating poorly. You may want to increase your intake of high-fiber foods, especially fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, to replace high-fat foods. You can also use beans or fish to replace red meat. The calories in each meal are reduced, but the nutritional ratio remains the same, and the quality of the food is also improved.

In fact, anyone who is overweight or obese, whether they have too much subcutaneous fat or too much visceral fat, should actively lose weight, especially since being overweight or obese in middle age can increase the risk of dementia in old age. Therefore, it is never too late to eliminate visceral fat and lose weight healthily starting now! However, it is important to remind you that the medical community does not recommend weight loss for people over 65 years old. Please just maintain a normal lifestyle.