Research

Hormonal

Subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) expansion is metabolically protective, whereas preferential visceral WAT expansion is associated with increased risk for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.

Monitor your waist circumference as a proxy for visceral fat. A high waist-to-hip ratio indicates visceral fat accumulation, which is a stronger risk factor for diabetes and heart disease than overall BMI. Prioritize strategies that favor subcutaneous fat storage or prevent visceral accumulation, such as regular aerobic exercise and stress management.

StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
Preferential accumulation of visceral WAT is associated with increased risk for insulin resistance, whereas subcutaneous WAT expansion is protective.
Lavanya Vishvanath et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2019

Why this rating

Consistent findings across human GWAS, observational studies, and multiple animal models.

Source

Contribution of adipogenesis to healthy adipose tissue expansion in obesity

Lavanya Vishvanath et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2019

DOI 10.1172/jci129191

narrative_reviewCited 535×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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