Dr Zoe Williams discusses visceral fat on This Morning
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Hiding deep inside your belly, visceral fat wraps around some of your vital organs, ranging from the liver to the intestines. Leaving this dangerous fat to accumulate can trigger serious health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and dementia. The good news is that there are some effective interventions for stamping the culprit out.
There are three different types of fat in your body: essential, subcutaneous and visceral fat.
Subcutaneous fat is the jiggly substance that you can pinch. However, visceral fat is hidden, lurking in your abdominal cavity.
Silent yet dangerous, you might not even know about this belly fat while it’s quietly boosting your risk of different health problems.
According to research published in the journal Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, the drink that may help reduce the stubborn belly fat is vinegar.
A staple of every kitchen cupboard, vinegar is a combination of acetic acid and water, made through a fermentation process.
When it comes to targeting visceral fat, the potent part of the drink seems to be the acetic acid.
This component was previously found to “supress body fat accumulation” in animal models.
So, this study decided to put it into test.
The study looked at “obese” participants divided into three groups based on their body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.
In case you’re not aware, waist circumference is often used as a tell for higher visceral fat levels.
The participants were then given 500 millilitres of a beverage containing either 15 millilitres of vinegar, 30 millilitres or no vinegar at all.
After following this protocol for 12 weeks, the researchers saw visceral fat “significantly” lowered in both vinegar groups.
They also saw reduction in the participants’ body weight, BMI and waist circumference.
The study concluded that having vinegar daily “might be useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome by reducing obesity”.
Metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of conditions, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat and high cholesterol or triglyceride levels.
When it comes to weight loss, one specific vinegar has received a lot of praise – apple cider vinegar.
Holland & Barrett explains that apple cider vinegar could help slow down the absorption of starches in food.
This in return can make you fuller for longer and cut your appetite.
Plus, a study published in the Journal of Functional Foods found that people who followed a weight-loss diet supplemented with the drink were able to lose more weight.
However, the Mayo Clinic reports that these findings might have to be taken with a pinch of salt as results across studies tend to be inconsistent.
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