It’s possible that visceral fat will present the majority of us with the greatest health-related fight in which we’ll ever find ourselves. That’s because visceral fat can lead to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and malignancies.
Understanding your visceral fat level, which visceral fat measure approach is best, and what a visceral fat rating is could help you avoid such personal health catastrophes.
Visceral Fat Level
In contemporary gaming, “leveling up” means increasing the capabilities of your gaming character.
When visceral fat is the topic, however, leveling up can be deadly.
That’s because a high visceral fat level may be a precursor to serious health issues such as:
- Heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Elevated blood pressure
- Stroke
- Breast and colorectal cancer
- Alzheimer’s disease
Why Your Visceral Fat Level Matters More than Your Subcutaneous Fat Level
Your visceral fat hides beneath your abdominal wall, where it surrounds organs such as the liver and intestines. You likely have more subcutaneous fat — the fat that accumulates beneath your skin but in front of your abdominal wall — but visceral fat is far more dangerous.
Here’s why:
For a long time, the medical community saw fat cells as passive. Now, though, it’s clear that such cells are “biologically active,” with fat performing as an endocrine gland. With subcutaneous cells, that performance includes a higher amount of beneficial molecules. When it comes to visceral fat, the script switches: that kind of fat produces more potentially harmful molecules.
It’s those harmful molecules that attack the nearby organs and, subsequently, wreak havoc on them and you. This is why paying attention to your visceral fat level is so important.
Visceral Fat Ratings
The amount of visceral fat you have can be expressed a few ways. One way is with something called a visceral fat rating based on a scale of 1-59. The goal is to keep the visceral fat rating under 13. Anything above that indicates an unhealthy visceral fat level.
What Visceral Fat Ratings Mean
A visceral fat rating below 13 means the subject is successfully avoiding the riskier amounts of visceral fat that can lead to the illnesses mentioned above. This is achieved through diet and exercise — but mostly diet.
Visceral Fat Rating Shortcomings
A visceral fat rating often is associated with BIA, which involves sending an electrical current through your body. It is not considered an especially reliable form of body composition measurement. While paying attention to your visceral fat amount is better than ignoring it, there are better ways that with an approach incorporating a visceral fat rating. Rather than seeking a visceral fat rating, visceral fat measure techniques that quantify your visceral fat with a percentage offer a more accurate figure.
We’ll take a closer look at visceral fat measure next.
Visceral Fat Measure
As more is learned about how dangerous high levels of visceral fat can be, the medical and scientific communities devote more effort into ways to quantify a person’s visceral fat amounts with accuracy.
There are various ways a professional can take a patient or client’s visceral fat measure. Here are the more popular methods in alphabetical order:
- BIA
- Body Mass Index (BMI)
- DEXA
- Hydrostatic (Underwater) Testing
- Skinfold Calipers
The Best Visceral Fat Measure Techniques
Of the five visceral fat measure techniques listed, DEXA receives the highest marks from medical professionals. Hydrostatic testing, which involves dunking the subject into water, is a distant second.
The others — BIA, BMI, and skinfold calipers — are not considered reliable enough measures for a serious measure of visceral fat. WebMD, for its part, grades them C+, D, and D, respectively. Of BIA, one medically confirmed study cited its “limited potential for accurately measuring visceral fat ….”
Fighting Visceral Fat
What was formerly a somewhat pricey and complicated process to identify your body composition — including your visceral fat — DEXA scans have come down in both measures to be accessible to everyone.
DEXA+ is proud to be at the forefront of that effort. Because there is no better way to determine your body’s composition and track progress to improve your health, we’re proud to be here to offer clients this service. To learn more, contact us today.
Sources
www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/body-fat-analyzers/faq-20057944
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320929.php
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2082845/
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3473928/
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5500349/
