What is visceral fat?
After reading Dr. William Davis’s most recent blog entitled “Men’s lingerie is on the second floor,” I decided everyone should be aware of what visceral fat is and why it’s something you DO NOT want in your body!
According to Dr. Davis, “Visceral fat means you have fat kidneys, fat intestines, fat pancreas, and fat liver, all causing the belly to protrude in the familiar way we’ve all come to recognize.”
“Visceral fat is special fat. Unlike the fat in the backside, thighs, or arms, visceral fat triggers inflammatory responses that are evident in such measures as tumor necrosis factor, interleukins, and leptin, as well as drops in the protective hormone, adiponectin.”
“Visceral fat also, oddly, triggers estrogen release. Estrogen triggers growth of breast tissue. That’s why females with wheat bellies have up to four-fold (400%) greater likelihood of breast cancer.”
So what can you do to avoid visceral fat build up? Exactly what you do to maintain health and weight in the first place…..diet and exercise! Most importantly though, you want to stop taxing your pancreas with the over eating of carbohydrates.
Remember, carbohydrates will become glucose in the body. That glucose elevates in the blood, triggering insulin production to dispose of that glucose by delivering it to the liver and muscle to store it as glycogen. If glycogen stores are already abundant, the glucose has to go somewhere, so it’s gonna get stored as fat, plain and simple. And once the body has enough subcutaneous fat, it’s gonna move inward and start packing in around the organs. Once it’s packing in around there, it’s only going to get more severe. Every single time you eat carbohydrates, insulin’s gonna speed that glucose directly to the fat stores and make them larger and larger. At this point, you’re caught in a downward spiral that’s going to be difficult to get out of unless you come up with a game plan and stick to it.
You must learn to embrace proteins, prioritizing them in each of your meals and snacks. Sources include chicken, lean beef, salmon, turkey, omega-3 eggs, and low lactose/lactose free protein powders. Complement those proteins with healthy sources of fat, from almonds, cashews, macadamias, pistachios, avocados, and dietary oils (fish, flax, extra virgin olive, macadamia, etc.) while making sure not to over eat them, as fats are calorically dense. Try to add in green, leafy vegetables to each meal, such as green beans, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, etc.
Around periods of physical activity and exercise, this would be the time to consume carbohydrates. Consume carbohydrates along with protein, while keeping the fat as minimal as possible. Try to focus on potato, brown rice, quinoa, oats, and sprouted grain bread as carb sources. Eat these just before and just after your activity, as these will act as a source of energy and a source to replenish glycogen stores depleted from the activity. You’ll be giving your body what it needs, only around the time that it needs it.
A plan like this may take time to adjust to and may even need to be done in stages. Though if you stick with it, you’ll be amazed at the results, both in how you feel, as well as how you look. Overtime, that big protruding belly of visceral fat will be a distant memory!
