We call it belly fat; doctors call it visceral fat. That’s because it’s surrounds your viscera–your intestines. Buildup of visceral fat causes your belly to pooch out even if you’re not overweight.
Belly fat is different from fat in other parts of your body. It’s more responsive to the hormone insulin. Insulin is the body’s main calorie-storing hormone. It transports fuel from all three major sources–carbohydrates, fat and protein–into your fat cells. If you produce too much insulin, it pushes a disproportionate amount of fuel into the fat cells in your abdomen. Excess belly fat is a sure sign that your body is producing too much insulin.
Fat is supposed to be a safe place for storing fuel. The problem is that when visceral fat cells get overloaded they start leaking toxic breakdown products into the circulation. This stuff actually makes you produce even more insulin, which pushes even more fuel into your fat cells. Excess visceral fat generates a vicious cycle that promotes further fat buildup.
Unlike blood coming from other parts of your body, which returns to your heart, blood from visceral fat drains into your liver. The liver is where cholesterol comes from. Overloaded visceral fat cells spill breakdown products directly into your liver, which increases the number of cholesterol particles in your blood.
Visceral fat is linked to more health problems than fat in other parts of the body. These include adult onset diabetes, cholesterol buildup in arteries, menstrual difficulties in women and low testosterone in men.
If you tend to store disproportionate amounts of fat in your abdomen then you know what the key to your metabolism is–stop overproducing insulin. This does not entail starving yourself or trying to burn off calories at the gym. It’s much easier. And whereas having too much insulin packs fat into your abdomen, reducing your insulin levels pulls fat out of your abdomen. Your waist shrinks before everything else does.
