Research
Hormonal
Visceral adiposity, rather than overall body mass index (BMI), is the critical driver of metabolic syndrome comorbidities, including insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk.
Do not rely on BMI alone to assess your health risk. Waist circumference is a better indicator of visceral fat, which drives metabolic syndrome. Even if you are lean, high abdominal fat increases your risk for diabetes and heart disease.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Visceral obesity, which is characterized by preferential accumulation of fat in intra-abdominal, epicardial, and perivascular depots... is associated with a peculiar metabolic profile, including IR, local and systemic inflammation... Interestingly, these metabolic abnormalities... arise even in lean individuals who accumulate fat intra-abdominally (the so-called 'normal-weight obesity').
Why this rating
Well-established pathophysiological consensus cited in the review.
Source
New Advances in Metabolic Syndrome, from Prevention to Treatment: The Role of Diet and Food
Donatella Ambroselli et al. · Nutrients · 2023
DOI 10.3390/nu15030640
narrative_reviewCited 196×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Metabolomic biomarkers, particularly Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs), aromatic amino acids, and specific lipids (ceramides, sphingomyelins), can predict the onset and progression of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes before clinical symptoms appear.Good
- Lifestyle interventions, specifically the Mediterranean diet combined with physical activity, are the primary therapeutic strategy for preventing and treating metabolic syndrome by addressing modifiable risk factors such as obesity and insulin resistance.Moderate
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