Belly fat breakthrough

Former FDA doc shares keys to target the toxic fat harming women's health. Heather lost 15 midsection inches!

- BY STACEY COLINO

Just like there are good and bad fats to eat, there are also good and bad 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 carried in and around our organs. The latter is now considered “toxic fat” or “sick fat” because it's so damaging to our health, says top doc David Kessler, M.D. Here, the latest insights on how to eliminate your worst fat.

What's so bad about this type of fat? “Toxic fat is metabolically active. It releases free fatty acids and other pro-inflammatory molecules and these get into the liver and other organs and cause organ dysfunction,” explains David Kessler, M.D., former commissioner of the U.S. 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.”

Besides increasing inflammation, toxic 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 can lead to fatty liver disease. It can 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 neck causes sleep apnea, and fat around the kidneys affects blood pressure.”

Research shows you only need to gain about 4 pounds of visceral fat before becoming insulin resistant.

Identifying hidden fat