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March 28, 2007

Fat Increases Diabetes Risk Factors

Visceral fat cells in the abdomen, the fat that surrounds the organs in the gut, secrete molecules that increase inflammation and increase the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, this according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis:

Reporting in the journal Diabetes, the research team says visceral fat likely contributes to increases in systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. They sampled blood from the portal vein in obese patients undergoing gastric bypass surgery and found that visceral fat in the abdomen was secreting high levels of an important inflammatory molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6) into portal vein blood.

(...) Increased IL-6 levels in the portal vein correlated with concentrations of an inflammatory substance called C-reactive protein (CRP) in the body. High CRP levels are related to inflammation, and chronic inflammation is associated with insulin resistance, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis, among other things.

Note that visceral fat surrounds internal organs and, unlike belly fat, cannot be surgically removed.

Diet and exercise my friends, diet and exercise ...

Related reading - The secret life of fat cells:

The best way to get rid of visceral fat and shrink fat cells all at once is diet and exercise. Just a loss of 7 per cent of total body weight helps. ... Something about burning more calories than you eat creates a state of negative energy balance that quickly melts away visceral fat and slims down bloated fat cells.

Posted by Diabetologica at March 28, 2007 7:07 AM