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by Tai Brown • Taime out Massage Owner
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It’s healthy to have some body fat, but all fat is not created equal. Visceral fat is a type of body fat that’s stored within the abdominal cavity. It’s located near several vital organs (organs are medically called “visceral” thus visceral fat... get it?), including the liver, stomach, and intestines. It can also build up in the arteries. Visceral fat is sometimes referred to as “active fat” because it can actively increase the risk of serious health problems.
It’s the stuff the surgeon CANT liposuction out. We’ve had clients who’ve gone for a round 2 of lipo and commented “the dr missed this area again, it’s still not flat!” and we’ve explained that only subcutaneous fat can be sucked out. If it’s inside the abdominal cavity not only are YOU the only one who can get to it— as a postop provider can’t even body contour it away— you have bigger problems as visceral fat is dangerous.
HOW IS IT DANGEROUS?
Visceral fat can start causing health problems immediately. It can increase insulin resistance, even if you’ve never had diabetes. It slows and weighs the organs down increasing your risk for developing several serious long-term, life-threatening medical conditions. These include:
- Heart attacks and heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Stroke
- Breast cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Alzheimer’s disease
On the YouTube channel “Perfectly Tai”, a previous Sx Talk mentions that once a fat cell gets too large it explodes and empties into your blood stream— Yea that part is problematic.
Visceral fat is often evaluated on a scale of 1 to 59 when diagnosed with body fat analyzers or MRI scans. Healthy levels of visceral fat stay under 13. If your rating is 13–59, immediate lifestyle changes are recommended. And while BMI isn’t the absolute best way to discern fat, it is still a good barometer for visceral fat.
While of course working out is beyond helpful... you’ll be surprised to learn that LIFESTYLE SHIFTS— the 6th Phase of a Cosmetic Self Love journey— affect visceral fat the most. By STOPPING the constant flooding your system with harmful hormones, your body will start to slim and thin out. Things that flood your system with weight retaining visceral fat building hormones include:
- Toxic thinking
- Work stress
- Arguing
- Biting your tongue and holding things in
- Poor sleeping habits like falling asleep with your phone in hand or watching tv an hr before bed
- Snacking late at night
- Skipping breakfast and eating a heavy dinner
- Eating processed foods
- Consuming too much alcohol
- Consuming nicotine
- Sitting too much throughout the day without moving around
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By trying a few of these strategies along with the active exercises from the Subcutaneous article, you can lose visceral fat, improve your overall health, and have the best results for your Sx procedures.
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About the author
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International massage therapist who’s career has evolved from sports massage, to oncology massage, to leading the industry in postOperative care and body contouring, specifically pertaining to plastic surgery. Tai is the owner of Taime out Massage Studios and a Tributo partner.