INTRODUCTION

For many out there who do not know that there is fat and what lurks beneath, fat that cannot be felt by simply pinching your belly, can be bad for your health if there is too much of it.

This visceral fat builds up and wraps itself protectively around vital organs, including those in the abdomen.

It is well known that excess visceral fat increases the risk of health issues such as heart disease and diabetes. When it is visceral fat that is causing a person’s girth to get wider, the person may even face an earlier death, a new study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine reported recently in 2010.

The research, which was done over nine years, tracked more than 100,000 people aged 50 and above. Those with bigger waist were more likely to die of respiratory disease, followed by heart disease, then cancer.

While visceral fat protects abdominal organs, having too much of it could be hazardous to health. Visceral fat breaks up more easily than subcutaneous fat which is found just below the skin, said Dr Asim Shabbir, a consultant at the Center for Obesity Management and Surgery at the National University Hospital.

When visceral fat breaks up, it releases free fatty acids into the bloodstream. These fatty acids then travel to the liver where they will block certain pathways. Problems like insulin resistance and diabetes may arise as a result of this.

“To check if one is having too much visceral fat in the body, the waistline is a good gauge of the amount of visceral fat present in the body”, said Dr Asim. “Anything more than 102cm for men and 88cm for women will increase one’s risk of problems related to excess visceral fat”, he said.

The Tanita InnerScan Body composition monitor is able to measure how much visceral fat a person has and display as a reading to indicate if one is within the healthy range.

Many Singaporeans may not be aware of the dangers of visceral fat or have not even heard about it. “More than half of my clients do not know that obesity is linked to problems like diabetes and hypertension, much less the dangers of visceral obesity,” said Jane Tan, senior Tai Chi coach of NewAgeTaichi.

Dr Roger Tian, a sports physician and associate consultant at the Singapore Sport Medicine Centre and Changi Sports Medicine Centre, agreed. He said: “Many people may not realize the dangers of visceral fat as it is hidden underneath the muscles and not as visible or cosmetically disturbing as subcutaneous fat, which can show up as flabby thighs.”

More men than women tend to accumulate visceral fat because of factors like genes and hormones. However, post-menopausal women also face an increased risk of developing excess visceral fat as a result of losing Oestrogen and its accompanying protective effects, said Dr Asim.

Also, as one ages regardless of gender, the battle of the bulge gets fiercer as one’s basal metabolic rate (the rate at which a person’s body burns energy at rest) decreases, said Dr Asim. This makes it easier to gain weight if one overeats or leads a sedentary lifestyle.

Nevertheless, there is some good news. Visceral fat is easier to lose than subcutaneous fat because it breaks down faster. “Low to moderate intensity aerobic exercises, such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling, for at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week, are recommended”, said Dr Tian.

He explained that a person exercising for just 10 to 20 minutes would be burning only carbohydrates. Fat is one of the metabolic fuels burnt only when a person engages in prolonged exercise, he added.

Results can be relatively quick if a sound diet is tagged onto a more active lifestyle. As such, Diana Ng, senior Tai Chi coach of NewAgeTaichi has been monitoring her client’s body composition reading to track progress of their training session, as she always believe that results will keep one to be more motivated and keep to the training.

“One can appear slim and still have a high amount of visceral fat, even though the fat percentage may be relative low. How we know is through the Tanita InnerScan body composition monitor that we are able to measure and understand what is happening underlying the human body. It is a very useful monitoring tool for us to better understand how our training program really works for our clients”, said Diana Ng.

Using a systematic and progressive training which comprises of resistance training and Tai Chi, her client is able to consistently losing 0.5kg – 1kg every 2 weeks (see chart for the record). The Tai Chi training is done twice a week with each session lasting 90min and would usually consists of at least 30min of resistance training that include free weights and some core stability exercises to work on the core muscles which include progressive overloading based on the client’s performance.

The Tanita InnerScan body composition monitor is also able to help monitor changes in the basal metabolic rate (BMR) and how the body readily adapts and response to the training. “It is very motivating for the client when they are able to see their own improvement over a short period of time with real time data”, says Diana.

“They are very happy with the results and also understand that weight loss has to be progressive and consistent with proper exercise and maintaining a sensible diet”, she added. Diana is very experienced in training female clients for toning and weight loss program.