While fat composition of our body has different types of fat, visceral fat is primarily linked to negative impact on our health. We have discussed about importance of fat & different types of fat in our earlier blog.
Visceral fat is the tissue behind your abdominal wall & over internal organs of your body as compared to subcutaneous fat which lies underneath your skin. Visceral fat is metabolically active & secretes the following:
- Hormones which alter how we process fat & sugar.
- Inflammatory molecules that can damage blood vessels, muscle & other tissue.
Due to these impacts, Visceral fat is associated with a number of lifestyle diseases such as Type-2 diabetes & cardiovascular diseases. Excessive visceral fat increases the risk of metabolic diseases by negatively impacting/poorer insulin sensitivity. Inflammatory molecules produced by visceral fat, called Cytokines, impact insulin signalling. This in turn reduces uptake of glucose from bloodstream & spikes blood sugar levels, leading to damage of various tissues. Besides, Visceral fat contains white blood cells which also produce cytokines. High amount of visceral fat leads to high accumulation of white blood cells & increased production of cytokines which may lead to damage of cells also called cellular stress. Besides, Cytokines also impact other tissues such as liver & skeletal muscles, negatively impacting their sensitivity to the effects of Insulin.
Cellular stress although occurs in blood cell vessels, it can lead to formation of blood clots which can further increase risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Role of sex hormones
The effects of sex hormones on fat deposition & amount of visceral fat differ among men & women.
In the case of men, increased amount of visceral fat is associated with low levels of testosterone relative to levels of estrogen. Both reduced testosterone & increased estrogen production can lead to more visceral fat tissue. For women, it is the other way round, high levels of testosterone relative to estrogen level can lead to higher disposition of visceral fat. This can be due to high production of testosterone or reduced estrogen production.
It is like a vicious circle- higher level of visceral fat negatively impacts balance of sex hormones leading to further accumulation of visceral fat.
In men, visceral fat contains an enzyme which drives conversion of testosterone into estrogen. Having higher amount of visceral fat increases this rate of conversion resulting in:
- Lower testosterone level.
- Increases circulating estrogen level.
- Lower ratio of testosterone to estrogen.
All these reasons further accumulate visceral fat deposition which increases risk of cardiovascular & metabolic diseases.
At Passion for Fitness, we assess personal traits of sex hormone & visceral fat by analysing genetic variant that impacts testosterone production, estrogen production & insulin resistance & lifestyle information related to your age, body type, eating, smoking & drinking habits.
Based on the above analysis, you may either have high or low risk to visceral fat accumulation. The same would be used to personalise your nutrition program & deliver a trainer led one to one workout coaching solution.
Discover your risk to visceral fat accumulation, testosterone & estrogen production by uncovering your genes with us. Sign up for our fitness program here.
