New studies indicate that the location of excess body fat may influence heart health, according to the Muara Digital Team.
Verified by Nick Blackmer
- New research suggests that visceral fat,fat in the abdomen that surrounds your organs, mayspeed up heart aging.
- Visceral fat drives inflammation, insulin resistance, and “bad” cholesterol,all of which may speed up the aging process of the heart.
- Experts claim that the most efficient method tocut visceral fat is through exercise.
Too much visceral fat—the type that settles deeply in your torso and encircles your internal organs—mightaccelerate aging in your heart and blood vessels, a new study shows.
Visceral fatis stealthy: You can transport a significant amount of it without being aware—and still remain within a “Muara Digital Teamy” weight limit if you do. However, it is more damaging than fat located directly beneath the skin—referred to as abdominal fat or subcutaneous fat,Declan O’Regan, MBBS, PhD, lead researcher and professor at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences and Imperial College London, statedMuara Digital Team.
Fat located around the organs has been associated with diabetes, heart disease, and various long-term health issues.
But the recent research, released on August 22 in theEuropean Heart Journal,was the first to propose that it might also accelerate aging, O’Regan stated.
The research highlights that “individuals should be mindful of their overall body fat as well as how it is distributed,” statedNour Makarem, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, who reviewed the new study.
Fat in the Abdominal Area Could Cause Your Heart to Age More Quickly
The group analyzed imaging scans from 21,241 individuals in the UK Biobank, a detailed Muara Digital Team database. The scans provided information regarding their hearts, blood vessels, and the distribution of both visceral and subcutaneous fat.
With the help of artificial intelligence, the researchers detected indicators of organ aging, including rigid and inflamed tissues, and gave each participant aheart age.
People whose heart age exceeded their chronological one generally had higher amounts of abdominal fat
Visceral fat increases inflammation, which probably leads to quicker aging, O’Regan stated.
It also promotes insulin resistance, a preliminary stage in the progression ofdiabetesand heart disease, and raises “bad” cholesterol, increasing the chances of it building up in blood vessels and causing cardiovascular disease, addedTiffany Powell-Wiley, MD, MPH, a senior investigator with the National Institutes of Muara Digital Team who has researched visceral fat and cardiovascular risk but was not part of the new study.
On the other hand, O’Regan stated, individuals who are physically fit withobesityhad a ‘younger’ heart age compared to those who are out of shape.
That could be due to exercise helping to lower visceral fat. A 2024 study discovered that individuals who consistently exercised were more likely tostore excess fat in the layer beneath the skininstead of as visceral fat, and the visceral fat they had was less damaging—even if they were consideredoverweight or obese.
How Fat Impacts Men and Women Differently
Scientists also found significant variations between genders regarding fat accumulation and heart aging.
Fat stored around the abdomen—or having an “apple” body shape—was associated with earlier signs of cardiovascular aging in men. Interestingly, fat located around the hips and thighs, also referred to as “pear” shaped, appeared to be protective against cardiovascular aging in females. (In these areas, fat can release substances that inhibit inflammation, O’Regan noted.)
Women often had higher amounts of subcutaneous fat, whereas men were more likely to accumulate visceral fat—and this increased more rapidly with age, rising approximately 8.2% each decade, compared to 5.3% in women. Differences in hormones may account for this, according to research.
The group also disclosed a connection to increasedestrogenhigher levels in women who have not yet gone through menopause and slower heart aging, indicating that the hormone could have a protective effect.
What Are the Ways to Determine Your Level of Visceral Fat?
Although body mass index (BMI) has been commonly used to identify obesity and anticipate associated risks, the researchers discovered that, unlike fat distribution, this measure is not connected to heart aging. Therefore, fat distribution is a more significant factor, according to O’Regan.
“It’s crucial to understand where fat is accumulated in order to assess its possible risks,” O’Regan stated.
The difficulty lies in determining the exact amount of visceral fat you possess.
The most accurate method to assess it is via an MRI or Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan—procedures that are not usually conducted or reimbursed by insurance,Carl Lavie, MD, the medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, statedMuara Digital Team.
A more cost-effective method to assess visceral fat, Lavie noted, is to measure yourwaist circumference and test your triglyceride levels.
Reducing Visceral Fat
Although adhering to a Muara Digital Teamy diet is generally advantageous, the research on whether diet alone can greatly reduce visceral fat is inconclusive. For instance, a 2023 study showed that merely reducing calorie intake had minimal impact. On the other hand, another study revealed that a low-carb diet combined with intermittent fasting resulted in weight loss—with thefasting showing the greatest impact.
What is most important, as stated by Lavie, isgetting enough exercise.A 2022 research found the most successful approach: a mix ofhigh-intensity interval training—or HIIT—and aerobic exercise.
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