Always Tired? Your Body May Have More of This Unhealthy Fat

Health experts have long advised that adults get as much adequate high-quality sleep each night to help strengthen immunity, enhance memory, boost athletic performance, and reduce the risk of illnesses.¹ However, there are some days when people are unable to get high-quality ZZZs due to various factors they may or may not control. As a result, they unknowingly put themselves at risk for health issues that can negatively impact their health, including increased visceral fat accumulation.

Take a closer look at how poor-quality sleep may lead to visceral fat issues within the body and how simple lifestyle shifts like eating nutrient-rich foods and staying active can help counter its effects.

What Is Visceral Fat?

This is a type of body fat located within the abdominal cavity and surrounds organs like the liver and the intestines.² Another term for it is “active fat,” because it secretes hormones and inflammatory substances that can affect metabolism.³

Unfortunately, high visceral fat levels can be bad news for one’s health, as it has been linked to an increased risk of health issues like high cholesterol levels, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, to name a few.²

Some factors that can lead to increased amounts of this type of fat include excessive consumption of fatty and carbohydrate-rich foods, a sedentary lifestyle, and elevated stress levels. A telltale sign of high visceral fat levels is increased belly fat, although this isn’t the most “accurate” way to measure this type of fat.³

Some health experts still recommend undergoing imaging tests to determine the exact amount of visceral fat in the body. If these are out of the budget, simpler methods to check the existence of visceral fat in the body include determining body mass index (BMI) values, hip-to-waist ratio, and body shape.³

Understand How Lack of Sleep and Visceral Habits Are Connected

The sad reality is that poor sleeping habits are strongly associated with higher visceral fat accumulation. According to research, adults who experience poor sleep quality or don’t get enough sleep tend to have higher amounts of visceral fat in their bodies.^4,5

When someone doesn’t get enough sleep, their brain doesn’t manage their body’s hormones effectively. Think of it as a restaurant during the lunch rush, where there are too many people but too little staff to help out. Because of this chaos, the brain struggles to regulate hormones involved in appetite and energy balance.⁴

In the long run, too much visceral fat that arises because of a lack of sleep can perpetuate a cycle characterized by a high risk of inflammation and high blood pressure levels that can further snowball into other complications⁶ like Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.⁴

Leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells, helps regulate energy balance and appetite.⁷ Ultimately, lack of sleep can lower leptin and increase ghrelin, hormones that regulate satiety and hunger, leading to overeating and potential visceral fat gain.⁸

How Dietary Fiber Counteracts High Visceral Fat Levels

On a slightly more positive note, researchers noted an inverse relationship between dietary fiber intake and visceral fat levels.^9,10 Simply put, the higher the fiber intake, the lower the quantities of visceral fat in the body.¹¹

Other findings also concluded that increased fiber intake helped reduce the amount of substances that can trigger widespread inflammation in the body, thereby reducing the risk of this health issue that can snowball into other complications.¹²

But how exactly is fiber able to counteract visceral fat anyway? Well, study authors did note some fibers and plant compounds (like phytoestrogens) may assist in reducing one’s visceral fat and bad cholesterol levels and in preventing other health issues like hyperglycemia and insulin resistance.⁹

Boost Daily Fiber Intake With the Help of This Supplement

Take the first step toward less visceral fat and better sleep by paying closer attention to how much fiber you get each day. Aside from eating fiber-rich food like apples, corn, sweet potatoes, spinach, and lettuce,¹³ ask your doctor about including Glucopro^® in a daily health routine.

Together with proper diet and exercise, this water-soluble, non-gelling, and wintermelon tea-flavored product contains resistant maltodextrin, a type of dietary fiber that may help:¹⁴

• Improve gut health by:
  • Stimulating the production of a prebiotic in the form of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)¹⁵
  • Increasing the number of good bacteria in the gut¹⁶
  • Promoting intestinal regularity¹⁷
• Assist with healthy weight management by:
  • Promoting intestinal regularity¹⁷
  • Decreasing visceral fat¹⁸
• Manage blood sugar spikes after meals¹⁹

Ideally, take a total of three Glucopro^® sachets daily to receive 16.2 grams of fiber that can help Filipino adults 19 years old and above meet the daily dietary fiber requirements of 20 to 25 grams, as highlighted in the Philippine Dietary Reference Intakes (PDRI).²⁰ To take this supplement, dissolve a sachet in a 250 mL glass of water and consume alongside meals.¹⁴

Use Glucopro^® under medical supervision. It is always best to consult a doctor prior to taking any form of supplements.

Glucopro^® is available in drugstores nationwide and online via Lazada and Shopee.

MAHALAGANG PAALALA: ANG GLUCOPRO® AY HINDI GAMOT AT HINDI DAPAT GAMITING PANGGAMOT SA ANUMANG URI NG SAKIT.