How to Get Rid of Fat Around Liver and Pancreas
Need to know how to get rid of visceral belly fat fast?
You can have visceral fat even if you've lost weight off of every other inch of your body.
The struggle is seriously real!
Visceral abdominal fat is not only bad for your health but also is very unattractive on the body.
Unlike subcutaneous fat (the kind you can feel under your skin and is slightly squishy) visceral fat carries some very dangerous health problems with it.
Visceral fat (intra-abdominal) surrounds and puts pressure on your internal organs such as your heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, and pancreas.
Having visceral fat inside your body is linked to some serious health problems such as type II diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and insulin resistance. I'm not offering medical advice but I'll show you what actually works for slimming your waist circumference.
Having visceral fat can also raise your LDL "bad" cholesterol as well as your blood pressure.
Visceral fat is mostly caused by a bad diet and lack of exercise. Genetics and your age are also factors.
But the good news is visceral fat can be quite easy to lose.
Having visceral fat can be quite stubborn to lose and it's also the most self-conscious for people. And if you have an apple shape body by genetics then you're more likely to have visceral fat.
I'm sure you can agree it can be hard to know how to melt your visceral fat off your belly.
Here you'll find the best ways to drop your visceral fat fast and naturally so you can get a healthy flat stomach.
How Do You Lose Visceral Fat
Visceral fat is literally inside your body and surrounds your internal organs. Subcutaneous fat on the other hand is the kind of fat that is right under your skin and doesn't pose as much of a health risk.
If your belly pops out then there's a good chance you have visceral stomach fat. You might also have subcutaneous fat too but there's also a lot of deep ab fat.
If you don't drop it fast having visceral fat inside your body can lead to some serious health problems .
Visceral fat unlike subcutaneous fat causes inflammation throughout your body which can lead to an increased risk of chronic diseases.
Chronic inflammation wears your body and organs down to the point things start breaking.
An example of long-lasting inflammation is the development of plaque in your arteries leading to heart disease.
This happens from visceral fat releasing inflammatory markers and free fatty acids. These can travel to your portal veins which can lead to your liver causing more damage to your intestines, pancreas and spleen.
This also may cause fat to build up in your liver leading to insulin resistance as well as type II diabetes.
How do you know if you have visceral fat and not just subcutaneous fat?
If looks like you have half a turtle shell on your stomach then then chances are good you have visceral ab fat.
Grab a tape measure to measure the fat around your waist. You most likely have excess visceral fat if the tape measure reads:
Women with a waist measurement of 35 inches or more are more likely to have visceral fat.
Men with 40 inches or higher waist circumference are also much likelier to have visceral fat.
You can take a look at your parents to see if you're more likely to have visceral fat. This study found genes were linked to a higher likelihood of having visceral abdominal fat (1).
How You Can Lose Visceral Fat Naturally
Sugar-Free & Low-Carb Diets
The best thing you can do to lose your visceral abdominal fat is to go on a low-carb diet.
You also need to get all of the sugar out of your diet immediately to lose your visceral and subcutaneous fat.
Studies have found those eating more sugar tend to have more visceral fat. It can cause you to develop insulin resistance which promotes weight gain and diabetes (2).
Here's a study where children had the sugar in their diet replaced and ended up losing 10.6% visceral fat in just 10 days (3).
Low-carb diets have also been shown to help much better for losing visceral fat than going on a low-fat diet.
According to the study, those on a low carb diet ended up losing 10% more visceral fat than those sticking with a low-fat diet (4).
It's a good idea to eat anti-inflammatory foods to help lower the inflammation your body. This will be a great way to fight visceral fat and reduce insulin resistance.
Also, make sure there are no trans fats in your diet whatsoever.
Studies have found trans fats directly led to visceral fat development in the body (5).
Intermittent Fasting Is King
If you want to lose your visceral fat then try using intermittent fasting for weight loss.
Studies have found intermittent fasting to be an effective way to reduce visceral and subcutaneous fat (6).
My favorite method of intermittent fasting is to fast for 16 hours. Then follow that with an 8-hour feeding window.
You can also try Alternate Day Fasting were you fast one day and then feed the next day.
You will not only burn off visceral fat but also other subcutaneous fat with an intermittent fasting diet plan.
Here is what you can put into your body while you're fasting to help fight off the hunger pains:
- Keto Elevate
- unsweetened green tea
- black coffee
- BCAAs
- bone broth
- cold lemon water
This meta-analysis found intermittent fasting was able to lower visceral fat by up to 7%. If you're trying to lower your body fat then intermittent fasting will take it up a notch (7).
Eat More Protein Now
An easy way to make sure you're burning off your visceral fat is to raise the amount of protein you're eating in your diet.
This study found those people who eat more protein are also losing the most stomach fat (8).
Some of the best protein sources include:
- salmon
- turkey
- chicken
- grass-fed beef
- whey protein shakes
- bison
- check out my other best fish for weight loss
Here's another study that found those who ate more protein also had smaller waist circumferences. And if you have a small waist circumference then you'll also have less visceral fat (9).
If you're having trouble getting enough protein in your diet then taking a high-quality protein shake will help.
You can go here for a free sample of BioTrust Low Carb Protein powder. It's grass-fed and naturally sweetened with stevia. It's one of the highest quality protein powders you can find.
Try increasing the amount of soluble fiber in your diet. This study found those who increased their soluble fiber by 10g a day were able to lose 3.7% of their visceral fat (10).
This study found those following a ketogenic diet were more able to lose more of their visceral fat than those on a low-fat diet (11).
What Exercise Reduces Visceral Fat?
Intense exercise will work the best to burn off the deep visceral stomach fat that surrounds your organs.
The immediate spike in catecholamines from intense exercise will help to better target the visceral fat in your body.
Aerobic exercise and slow-go cardio workouts will not be as effective. Even though they can burn some fat they will also wear down your body and can cause more inflammation.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts are superior because they'll help to burn more fat off your body (12).
Just make sure you're not doing simple ab exercises like crunches and sit ups to lose your visceral abdominal fat.
This study found resistance training was helpful in losing visceral fat (13).
If you're not lifting weights because you think they'll make you "bulky" then you'll be missing out.
Metabolic Resistance Training is the best method of strength training that'll burn off the maximal amount of fat from your body.
This because Metabolic Resistance Training will create an "afterburn" effect.
This will have your body burning fat well after you're finished working out. It's known as EPOC (Excess Post-Workout Oxygen Consumption) and you'll lose weight like a machine with it.
The great thing about HIIT workouts and MRT is you can do twice the work in half the time. So if you're crunched for time or if you have to work out at home then they're great options for you.
Most people who try to lose the abdominal fat try to just lose weight but don't add in strength training like this. This will cause you to lose muscle mass too which will increase your body fat percentage. You'll also lower your risk of heart disease by including strength training and aerobic exercise.
For complete HIIT and MRT, workout system check out The Flat Belly Formula.
Stop Drinking Alcohol (Blame It on the Goose!)
If you have the visceral belly fat then it's a good idea to start cutting the alcohol out of your life.
This study found alcohol intake was linked with increases in visceral fat (14).
Alcohol not only contains empty calories but also slows down your metabolism so you can't burn fat.
You're also much more likely to overeat on junk food after you've had a few drinks. This will clearly not help to lose your visceral fat.
We've all had those nights when you drank a little too much and ended up eating a whole bag of hot Cheetos… or is that just me?
Another study found those two drank the most alcohol were the most likely to carry more visceral belly fat (15).
If you have to drink some alcohol then make sure you check out the best alcohol drinks for weight loss.
Fix Your Stress and Sleep
There's a good chance you have visceral fat if you're chronically stressed out and not getting enough sleep.
Often your stress and sleep is overlooked and not given as much attention as dieting and exercise. But it also plays a very big role.
This study found those not getting enough sleep were more likely to have increased visceral fat (16).
And according to this other study those only getting about 5 hours of sleep per night ended up gaining 26% more visceral belly fat (17).
But make sure you're not sleeping too much.
Researchers found those sleeping eight or more hours per night were also more likely to have visceral fat increases.
If you have trouble sleeping or are chronically stressed out check out taking some CBD oil. It's been found to instantly lower stress levels as well as speed up the time it takes to fall into a deep sleep.
When you're chronically stressed out your body will release the hormone cortisol.
Cortisol increases in your body are linked to increases in visceral fat (18).
Try using mindfulness practices like meditation and deep breathing to help better manage your stress.
Probiotics the Secret to Fighting Visceral Fat?
Your gut health plays a major role in the amount of visceral fat you have in your body.
In this study, probiotics were found to help lower visceral fat. Studies has also surprisingly found just how impactful your gut health is in fighting heart disease (19).
Probiotics are the healthy gut bugs that line your intestines. They help your body to properly digest food and absorb the nutrients into your body.
Eating too many junk foods can lead to healthy gut bugs in your stomach losing out to the bad ones.
When the health of your gut is out of whack then you're more likely to experience gas and bloating, fatigue and energy decreases.
This study found those who took probiotics ended up losing 8.5% more visceral fat (20).
Most interestingly the participants also gained all the body fat back once they stopped taking the probiotics.
I recommend checking out BioTrust Pro-X10 live probiotics. If you want to try out the free 30 count bottle then click here.
Hidden Hormones That Cause Visceral Fat
One of the most underrated and hidden causes of visceral fat are out-of-whack hormones.
Most people only look at their nutrition and workouts. But there are other underlying causes that can keep you from burning off your visceral fat.
Having too much visceral fat itself can seriously affect your hormonal functions.
Hormonal dysfunctions from too much visceral fat include less leptin and adiponectin.
Leptin is known as the "full hormone." When you're leptin levels run too low your body will slow down your metabolism.
This will cause your body to secrete more inflammatory cytokines (IL-6). These will end up leading to more inflammation in your body (21).
Like mentioned earlier cortisol is also a hormone that can cause you to store more belly fat and body fat (22).
Postmenopausal women can have changes in their hormones such as decreases in estrogen. Because of this, they're also more likely to store more visceral fat (23).
Men with low testosterone have also been found to carry more visceral fat (24).
Making sure you get these hormones under control is of the utmost importance if you want to lose belly fat fast.
Otherwise, you can do everything right but there always be something holding you back from losing all your visceral fat.
What is the best way to lose visceral fat?
The simplest answer is to really focus down on your diet and incorporate a high intensity exercise program. It's going to be impossible to lose your visceral fat if your diet is out of sorts. Then when you add on high intensity exercise you'll blast through a lot of your visceral fat the fastest. The trick is to lower your overall body fat to burn this stubborn fat too.
Is visceral fat easy to lose?
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's "easy" to lose visceral fat but when you start putting in the work you'll drop it faster than you think. You'll be surprised at how fast you burn through it. If you're suffering from the health problems associated with having visceral and subcutaneous fat then you might want some medical advice.
The Last Word
You might think it's near impossible to lose your visceral fat, but I promise you it's a lot easier than you think when you're doing the right stuff.
You just have to make sure you're doing the right things consistently that actually work to lower your body fat and enhance weight loss.
Most people only focus on dieting and exercise to melt the visceral fat. And this is the bulk of it but there also some underlying causes that can keep you from reducing your visceral fat.
The best thing you can do is make sure you're taking care of all of the above so you're not leaving any stone unturned.
Of course, you don't have to do everything at once.
You can start off picking a few of the big ones above and then slowly implementing weight loss changes into your lifestyle.
Then once you get the hang of things you can start adding more and more. Then next thing you know your visceral fat will be gone for good.
Now that you know the best ways for getting rid of visceral fat fast it's time to get to work so you can lose weight and get the healthy flat stomach that you want.
Josh holds a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition Science. He's a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He's worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the high school and college level. He has over 10 years experience as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. He is also the author of The Flat Belly Formula. He hopes to be able to bring inspiration & results to people all over the world to live a healthier life through diet & exercise.
How to Get Rid of Fat Around Liver and Pancreas
Source: https://trainerjosh.com/fat-loss/get-rid-visceral-fat/