Research

Hormonal

Elevated plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in men are critically correlated with abdominal adipose tissue accumulation (visceral fat) and total body fat mass, rather than plasma lipoprotein-lipid profiles.

If you are a man with high C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation), your body fat distribution matters more than your cholesterol numbers. Specifically, reducing abdominal (visceral) fat is the most effective way to lower CRP levels. Focus on reducing belly fat through lifestyle changes, as this drives the inflammatory response more than lipid levels do.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
These results suggest that obesity and abdominal AT accumulation are the critical correlates of elevated plasma CRP levels found in men with atherogenic dyslipidemia of the insulin resistance syndrome.
Isabelle Lemieux et al. · Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology · 2001

Why this rating

Observational cross-sectional study with a large sample size (n=159) and rigorous measurement of visceral fat via CT, but causality is not definitively proven.

Source

Elevated C-Reactive Protein

Isabelle Lemieux et al. · Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology · 2001

DOI 10.1161/01.atv.21.6.961

cross_sectional · n=159Cited 591×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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