Meaning & use
visceral fat
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedical
Body fat stored deep inside the abdomen around organs such as the liver and intestines.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it has no plural and takes a singular verb: Visceral fat is linked to heart disease.
Patterns
- visceral fat around something
- a buildup of visceral fat
- reduce visceral fat
A large waistline can be a sign of too much visceral fat.
Doctors warn that visceral fat is more harmful than fat under the skin.
Regular exercise can help lower visceral fat even if your weight stays the same.
Common combinations
- visceral fat accumulation
- Visceral fat accumulation is common in middle age.
- measure visceral fat
- A scan can measure visceral fat more accurately than a scale.
- visceral fat around the organs
- Visceral fat around the organs releases harmful chemicals.
- reduce visceral fat
- A high-fiber diet may reduce visceral fat over time.
Synonyms and how they differ
- belly fat
- Belly fat is the everyday term and can mean any fat in the stomach area, including the harmless fat just under the skin.
- abdominal fat
- Abdominal fat is a broader medical term for all fat in the belly, while visceral fat is only the deep fat around organs.
Word family
Commonly confused: visceral fat or subcutaneous fat?
visceral fat vs subcutaneous fat
Subcutaneous fat is the fat just under the skin, which is less harmful than visceral fat around the organs.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'visceral fat' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Visceral fat is deep fat around the organs, so it is not the fat you can pinch (that is subcutaneous) and it is not found mainly in the arms and legs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “visceral fat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.