After the age of 60, many people are starting to pay more attention to weight to prevent chronic diseases. However, just looking at the weight is not enough to know how much fat the body is accumulating. Notably, visceral fat, a type of fat located deep in the abdomen and surrounding organs such as the liver, may be related to metabolic health.
Scientists at Ben-Gurion University, Israel, have followed hundreds of people for about 10 years to understand the link between body fat and the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The results showed that people who lost visceral fat had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Notably, this benefit was still recognized even when their weight increased again afterwards.
Specifically, for every 10% reduction in visceral fat, the risk of type 2 diabetes is related to a reduction of about 30%.
This shows that when losing weight, you should not only care about how many kilograms you lose. More importantly, which type of fat the body loses. A person may not lose much weight but still have positive changes in the amount of fat accumulated inside the body.
In the study, visceral fat showed a clearer link to the risk of diabetes compared to some other types of fat, such as subcutaneous fat.
For people after 60, this is even more noteworthy. At this age, losing weight too quickly or fasting can cause the body to lose muscle. Therefore, instead of just trying to eat very little to lose weight, older people should maintain a diet full of protein, green vegetables and essential groups of substances.
Exercise also plays an important role. Regular walking, limiting prolonged sitting, and doing strength training exercises suitable for your physical condition can help your body use energy better, while supporting muscle maintenance.
People with a large abdomen, overweight, high blood sugar, or who have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes should talk to their doctor to choose appropriate weight loss and exercise methods. The goal is not only to lose weight on the scale but also to reduce harmful fat, maintain muscle mass, and control blood sugar.
