What Doctors Want You to Know About Visceral Fat—How One Woman Lost 15 Inches and Reversed Diabetes
Visceral fat was damaging her liver, heart and blood sugar—but she fought back and won
Just like there are good and bad fats to eat, there are also good and bad types of fats to carry in the body. There’s subcutaneous fat that’s stored between the skin and muscles and can help regulate body temperature and cushion us from falls. And then there’s visceral fat that’s crowded around our internal organs. The latter is now considered “toxic fat” because it’s so damaging to health. Here, the latest insights on how to get rid of visceral fat—and reduce the risk of associated health problems—once and for all.
What’s so bad about visceral stomach fat?
“This toxic fat is metabolically active. It releases free fatty acids and other pro-inflammatory molecules, which get into the liver and other organs and cause organ dysfunction,” explains David Kessler, MD, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and author of the new book Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine. “We’re beginning to recognize toxic fat as a root cause of disease that needs to be treated.”
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Visceral fat releases hormones that influence blood sugar and cholesterol levels in harmful ways. It can also accumulate in organs. It’s now recognized that the fat in and around the liver is a serious health risk and can lead to fatty liver disease. (Discover the fatty liver disease symptoms you shouldn’t ignore.)
It can also end up in the bloodstream, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes, while fat in and around the pancreas is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, Dr. Kessler says. “Fat around the kidneys affects blood pressure,” he adds.
How do you know if you have ‘toxic’ fat?
Dr. Kessler says BMI is not an accurate tool here. Instead, consider one of these options to determine if you’re carrying visceral fat:
- Measure your waist circumference—women’s should be 35 inches or less
- Calculate your waist-to-hip ratio (below 0.85 is optimal for women) or waist-to-height ratio (less than 0.50 is healthy for women.
- Undergo a high-tech body scan, like a DEXA or SECA, at medical centers or fitness centers
“Women tend to have more subcutaneous fat than men, which is largely driven by estrogen,” says Laura den Hartigh, PhD, a research associate professor at the University of Washington Medicine Diabetes Institute. But that changes with age. Visceral fat naturally accumulates more after menopause, when estrogen levels drop significantly.
Aside from age, there are two main drivers of belly fat: excess calories and insulin problems, Dr. Kessler says. “It’s hard to sort out which comes first—toxic visceral fat or elevations of blood insulin—but it can become a vicious cycle.”
How to get rid of visceral fat
Losing belly fat isn’t easy, but it is possible. Dr. Kessler says, “No one tool is going to work for the duration,” so having a toolbox of strategies is best. Here, some expert-backed tips to get rid of visceral fat:
Talk to your doctor about weight-loss medication
GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic) and bariatric surgery do a good job. Lifestyle tweaks can also help you lose weight. “Any form of weight loss that makes you lose total body fat will help you lose some visceral fat,” den Hartigh says, noting that for every 2.2 pounds you lose with dietary changes and/or exercise, visceral fat decreases by an estimated 3 percent.
Practice portion control
Do this by consciously eating a little less at every meal or through intermittent fasting, starting with a fasting window of at least 14 hours. Check out our beginner’s guide to intermittent fasting for weight loss to get started.
Eat low-carb
When possible, consume fewer than 20 percent of your daily calories from carbs and focus on healthy carbs, like whole grains, fruits and veggies high in satiety-promoting fiber, Dr. Kessler says. It’s also a good idea to avoid ultra-processed foods, often loaded with fat, salt and sugar, which put you at a higher risk for developing visceral fat.
Fill up on protein
On a daily basis, aim to eat enough grams of protein to equal at least 75 percent of your body weight in pounds, Dr. Kessler says. (If you weigh 160 pounds, that means about 120 grams of protein.)
Move a little more
In a study in a 2022 issue of the journal Healthcare, women who did intense exercise like jogging or a combo of jogging and walking lost more belly fat in 12 weeks than those who only walked.
Destress and prioritize deep sleep
Finding practices that reduce stress (to lower cortisol) and sleeping at least 8 hours a night is also proven to help get rid of visceral fat. “Sleep is critical,” says Washington University’s Samuel Klein, MD, because it keeps appetite-regulating hormones, stress hormones and food intake in check.
Visceral fat loss success story: She lost 15” from her waist
When Heather Draeger learned her liver enzymes were high due to her dangerous visceral fat, she was terrified. “I was only 48 and my body was starting to fail me.” Then she visited Weight in Gold Wellness Clinic for a SECA body-composition scan, covered by her insurance. “I had no idea what visceral fat was,” she admits.
She started making changes: eating protein-rich meals, taking Mounjaro to lower her blood sugar and attending Zumba classes. Within five months, she shed 40 pounds of body fat (only 3 pounds of muscle mass) and 11.5 belly inches. By eight months, she’d lost 15 belly inches, plus her visceral fat dropped 76 percent—from 2.9 liters to 0.7 liters.
Heather is healthier than ever
Thanks to those scans, “I could see on paper what was changing inside my body.” Heather adds, “Often I was losing inches even when I wasn’t losing any pounds.”
In all, Heather’s health transformed after she got rid of visceral fat. Her A1C (a measure of average blood sugar) fell from 8.8 to 4.9, she got off all meds (including BP pills) and she no longer needs a CPAP machine. She also reversed type 2 diabetes. Her liver numbers went from a sky-high 98 to a normal 29. “I feel better than in my 20s. My body is loving me again!”
“I’m not in pain anymore. I feel confident I’m going to see my daughters’ future. And I have a long, happy life ahead of me,” says the daycare provider now. “I just had a dance party and could keep up with a 3-year old!”
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