Visceral vs. Subcutaneous fat

Let’s start with: what is the difference between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat?
Subcutaneous fat is fat just under the surface of your skin. So, when you look at yourself in the
mirror, if you see an extra few centimetres of flesh around your waist, tummy, arms and
thighs, then you are more-than-likely seeing the evidence of your subcutaneous fat manifesting
itself!

Visceral fat is hidden deeper inside your body and surrounds the organs; which means you’re not
going to see it in your mirror. And believe it or not : slim people can also have visceral fat! They can
store fat around their internal organs, thus ‘slim’ does not always = healthy!

The key difference between the two types of fat is that the one you can see evidence of in a mirror
(subcutaneous) can actually offer some benefits, while visceral fat, unless controlled to manageable
levels, can increase the risk of a variety of illnesses – many of them serious.

Beneficial Fat
Apparently, research has indicated that it is normal for healthy people to accumulate around 80% –
90% of their fat in the parts of the body where it is most beneficial i.e. in the subcutaneous areas. So,
it goes some way towards protecting the body from impact or trauma, positively affecting energy levels and helping to manage body temperature.

On the other hand…visceral fat…

Apart from providing some protection to internal organs, this fat can (in excess) be responsible for causing sicknesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, asthma, strokes, fatty liver disease, chronic inflammation throughout the body and cancer. It’s also not great for your blood pressure!

I think most of us accept that, whatever type of fat we have, we definitely don’t want too much! But
one thing is clear, when it comes to fat, it’s the visceral variety that presents more serious problems
for our health.

How your body deals with fat is down to a number of factors. Genetics plays a large part in deciding
how you store fat, while diet, exercise and stress also impact the type of fat that collects in your
body.

It’s not easy to find out how much visceral fat you have in your body (except by CT or MRI scanners).
Unlike subcutaneous fat (as already mentioned above) which can be seen (and grabbed!)

However, it is highly likely that, if you have excessive subcutaneous fat, then your visceral fat level will also be higher than it should be.

To try to determine indications of the level of visceral fat in someone’s body doctors have been
using the BMI (Body Mass Index) tool (now thought to be too simplistic in determining a person’s
health by measuring only height and weight) and simple waist measurements. If these are taken
with the tape measure around your waist at the level of your navel and give a reading of more than
35” for women and 40” for men (doctors recommend a different metric for Asian people who tend
to have a higher visceral fat risk), it means that it is likely that your visceral fat levels are too high. Another measure is the waist-to-hip ratio : In women above 0.85 and in men above 1.0 is considered high risk for health issues.

The Good News!
One of the best ways to mitigate the effects of both types of fat on your body is diet and exercise – preferably regular, consistent, focused exercise with a PT to achieve the optimum benefit, and a balanced diet of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats. The objective being a controlled reduction in overall body fat which LASTS!

Research and acknowledgements
https://rightasrain.uwmedicine.org
https://www.dibesity.com
https://www.gilmorehealth.com
https://www.rwt.nhs.uk/PIL/MI_11240414_09.01.23_V_1.pdf