Slayer's Den

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The Visceral Fat Fix​

Visceral fat storage makes men look pregnant. Oh, and it'll probably kill them. Emerging research shows there's a new way to fight it off.​

Men can get pregnant. It's true. No, not with an actual baby. That's Gen Z silliness. But they can grow new, metabolically active tissue inside their abdominal cavities, making them look very much like a woman shopping for a Diaper Genie.

Maybe you've seen these guys around gyms and golf courses. They're usually middle-aged and often have cranky personalities. They're not "fat" in the traditional sense. They may have skinny legs and no butts. They're not squishy but have hard, round, protruding bellies.

What's going on with these bloated man-apples? Well, they're knocked up with visceral fat. It not only looks bad, but it's probably going to contribute to their early demise. And yes, it even affects their moods.

I'd rather not become one of those guys. So, let's figure out what's going on here.


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The Worst Kind of Fat​

Quick reminder: Visceral fat is the fat that accumulates within the abdominal cavity and surrounds vital organs. It's "inside fat." The opposite is subcutaneous fat – pinchable, "outside fat" beneath the skin.

Visceral fat is alive – it's metabolically active, and not in a fun way. It's associated with deadly systemic inflammation and hormonal imbalances. It's even associated with depression and cognitive decline, which partially explains the "cranky older dude with a potbelly" phenomenon.

Name something that wrecks a man's health and visceral fat probably contributes to it: cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. Visceral fat secretes pro-inflammatory molecules (cytokines like TNF-alpha and IL-6), exacerbating inflammation and increasing cancer risks.

Sadly, we can partially blame testosterone, which predisposes men to abdominal fat storage. In an ironic twist, the hormonal imbalances caused by visceral fat eventually reduce T levels.

How to Measure Visceral Fat​

Well, you could just look in the mirror and turn to the side. MRI and CT scans accurately measure visceral fat, but do you really need precise numbers? Nope. But generally speaking, a measurement of 40 inches or more around the biggest part of your baby bulge is a sure sign of visceral fat accumulation.


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A New Way to Fight Visceral Fat​

The best way to prevent visceral fat storage is, of course, to not get fat. Follow me on social media for more revolutionary fitness tips. But let's dig deeper than "exercise more and stop eating crap."

Emerging research shows that DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) plays a big role in fat metabolism, inflammation, and metabolic health. DHA is the more powerful partner of EPA, the two crucial omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil. Consuming enough DHA helps prevent and reduce visceral fat.

• DHA reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and promotes anti-inflammatory pathways, decreasing visceral fat accumulation.
• DHA impacts the function of fat cells, promoting lipid oxidation (fat burning) and reducing lipid storage. It also improves the sensitivity of fat cells to insulin, reducing the likelihood of abdominal fat storage.
• DHA influences the expression of genes involved in lipogenesis (fat creation) and lipolysis (fat breakdown), tipping the balance toward fat utilization.
• DHA enhances mitochondrial efficiency in muscle and liver cells, leading to increased oxidation of visceral fat stores.

Early animal studies showed that DHA supplementation reduces visceral fat accumulation, even when the animals are on high-fat diets. Newer human studies show that DHA-rich fish oil reduces visceral fat and waist circumference in overweight folks with metabolic syndrome. In another randomized trial, DHA supplementation improved lipid profiles and reduced markers of visceral fat in obese individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

How Much DHA Do We Need?​

You're probably covered if you're eating a pound of sardines a day. If not, you'll need to supplement with fish oil. Up to 90% of the American population is insufficient or completely deficient in omega-3s.

Studies related to DHA and visceral fat are tricky because researchers provide participants with standard fish oil containing far more EPA than DHA. (Fish themselves have more EPA than DHA so, naturally, most fish oil supplements do too.) Successful studies involve taking 2000 mg or more of combined EPA and DHA, but we know DHA is the powerhouse for fighting visceral fat storage.

Formulating a high-DHA fish oil supplement requires more ingenuity and is more expensive. However, you save money because you don't need as many softgels to get a pharmaceutical amount of visceral-fat-fighting DHA.