Visceral Fat: Thin on the Outside, Fat on the Inside

This friend of mine, let’s call her M, is shaped like a french bean.

Being Hardy to her Laurel hasn’t always been easy. At a clothes store, M would check out Tees from the Kids section (some of them were actually loose!), while I was advised to try a men’s shirt, maybe? The sizes reversed over coffee: mine was always small and black without sugar, her large cappuccino came with peaks of whipped cream.

Then one day, my 31-year-old friend collapsed.

The diagnosis: heart disease.

It did not make sense. Wasn’t M a copybook case of the low-risk group? Vegetarian, non-smoker, teetotaller, young, pretty relaxed and quite slim?

That’s when I learned a new term: tofi

‘Thin on the outside, fat inside.’ That was M.

What the doctor told me next was quite surprising: Some slim people carry around proportionately more fat inside them than Sumo wrestlers! That happens when they overeat, thinking they need not bother. But the reality is that a tofi has more reason to worry than others.

The culprit is visceral fat. It may not show, but it settles deep inside you, way, way beneath the skin, squashing your vital organs, choking your blood vessels, capillaries, tissues, cells.

Scary, is it not?

(Learn more about visceral fat by reading here.)

So, when the dude at the burger counter asks, ‘Would you like fries with that?,’ challenge yourself to perform the world’s toughest exercise: shake your head.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Alicia N.

9:17AM PST on Dec 12, 2011

noted-thank you

send a green star

ii q.

3:31PM PST on Dec 7, 2011

wow - scary is right!!!

ye l.

10:49PM PDT on Sep 24, 2011

I am mess it up, i thought this article will be about some thin people still have hidden fat around their bully, wow, they do.

Kerensa M.

9:13AM PDT on Jul 31, 2011

I'd heard about that, but I did'nt know it could be this serious.

Abbe A.

5:42AM PDT on Jul 10, 2011

I long for the days when a rubensesque figure was fashionable.

Ammy G.

2:56PM PDT on Jul 9, 2011

I would consider myself a thin person (5' 5", 100 lbs), but I am by no means healthy. There isn't any visible fat on the outside of me, yet I constantly experience circulation problems (numb feet or toes), cold limbs (e.g. cold fingers & toes), and my resting heart rate is high (~100-120 bpm). So whether a person is thin or not is totally NOT an indicator of their state of health. It doesn't mean a thin person would necessarily be healthier than a plump one.

Danuta W.

1:29AM PDT on Jun 16, 2011

Thanks for the post!

Diane S.

3:14PM PDT on Jun 14, 2011

Very interesting, thank you. I have learned something new.

Hugh M.

3:26AM PDT on Jun 10, 2011

who cares as long as youre thin.

Chelsea M.

6:41AM PDT on Jun 6, 2011

Huh... never would have guessed