Research
Macro partitioning
Subcutaneous fat, particularly in the limbs and gluteal regions, plays a protective metabolic role by safely storing lipids, whereas visceral fat accumulation is strongly associated with metabolic complications.
Preserve subcutaneous fat in limbs and glutes if possible, as it protects against metabolic disease, while minimizing visceral fat accumulation.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
it is the subcutaneous fat depots in the limbs and gluteal regions that are invariably lost in congenital lipodystrophy syndromes... The reason for differences in adipose depots is unclear, but at least one contributing element may be the fact that venous blood from visceral adipose tissue drains into the portal vein and then directly into the liver.
Why this rating
Supported by clinical observations of lipodystrophy patients and MRI imaging.
Source
Lipodystrophy: metabolic insights from a rare disorder
Isabel Huang‐Doran et al. · Journal of Endocrinology · 2010
DOI 10.1677/joe-10-0272
narrative_reviewCited 211×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Leptin replacement therapy provides sustained beneficial metabolic effects in patients with generalised lipodystrophy by addressing low leptin levels and hyperphagia.Moderate
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