Curious About Your Visceral Fat Level? Discover How It Affects Your Health

Visceral fat, also known as organ fat, is the fat that surrounds your internal organs. You cannot see this fat from the outside, and it can be dangerous for your health. A healthy visceral fat level should be below 12. Not only people with a high BMI have too much visceral fat; leaner people can struggle with it too.

A visceral fat level higher than 12 increases your risk of various health problems. This fat can literally crowd your organs. For example, your lungs get less space and oxygen, which can cause shortness of breath. Your liver can also develop fatty deposits, making it less effective at filtering toxins. In addition, visceral fat produces various substances, such as fatty acids, hormones, and inflammatory proteins, which increase your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. 

How Do You Measure Visceral Fat?

At Personal Trainer For Health, we can accurately measure your visceral fat level using our professional Tanita scale. It is important to note that not all Tanita scales are equally reliable, but the version we use is among the most reliable on the market. Besides your visceral fat level, we also measure your overall body fat percentage, muscle mass, resting metabolism, and hydration levels.

Would you like to measure your subcutaneous fat layer as well? You can do this with a skinfold measurement. Although this measurement is extremely accurate when performed by the same trainer, it cannot determine your visceral fat level. For that, you need the Tanita measurement.