Recently, a friend approached me to ask about shedding visceral fat. It was such a good question and the answer is so important to everybody’s health that I decided to make it the topic of Trainer Talk this week. Before discussing how to get rid of visceral fat, I will explain what visceral fat is and why it is dangerous.

First, it is important to understand what visceral fat is. Body fat is often lumped together into one big consideration, but the truth is that there are multiple types of fat in the body and some of it is good.

Good fat and bad fat are essentially determined by their color and where they’re at. Brown and beige fat are good fats and are related to weight management. White fat is the bad fat and is typically what is referred to in the negative sense as body fat.

Even white, “bad” fat comes in two categories. There’s subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is the fat that is visually apparent as it lies under the surface of the skin. It can be pinched and measured fairly easily, which is why it is what most people are concerned about when it comes to altering their body composition.

Visceral fat, though, is not as visually apparent. However, it is vastly more dangerous. Visceral fat is fat that wraps around organs. Its location means it can interrupt the function of those organs, which leads to disease and death.

Visceral fat is an almost invisible threat and it has a strong enough track record to be a serial killer at the top of the FBI’s most wanted list. It is nearly invisible because some people that have no excessive subcutaneous fat can still have large amounts of visceral fat packed around their organs.

That’s one of the dangers of diets like the Keto diet. These diets tell their adherents to consume large amounts of fat and make a little-to-no distinction between saturated and unsaturated fats. The excessive consumption of saturated fat leads to visceral fat buildup, even if subcutaneous fat decreases.

In this manner, people are literally killing themselves to lose a few inches around their waist.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that visceral fat is fairly simple to get rid of. In fact, it is far easier to shed than it’s subcutaneous counterpart.

The short answer for getting rid of the nasty stuff is “eat right and exercise.” It’s really that simple.

A healthy, balanced diet will reduce incoming saturated fat, thus restricting the build-up of visceral fat within the body. Think of it as turning the tap off in a plugged sink. Though the water isn’t draining, at least it’s no longer filling up the sink and threatening to overflow.

The next step in the sink analogy, then, is to remove the plug and let the water drain out. That is kind of what happens in the body when exercise is introduced.

One of the factors that make visceral fat so dangerous and impactful on organs is its rich blood flow. That same factor makes it very responsive to exercise. That is why it is easier to shed than subcutaneous fat.

In closing, visceral fat is the most dangerous form of fat within the body. It kills people every day. However, it does not need to be feared like the boogeyman. This killer fat is easily defeated through healthy eating and exercise. Eat veggies, lean meat and whole grains and engage in a regular exercise program. Visceral fat will be flushed down the drain.