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The unseen fat that’s your heart’s biggest threat
By now, we’ve all heard about the dangers of visceral fat — the type of fat deep inside the body that wraps around your organs and skyrockets your risk of everything from diabetes and high blood pressure to heart disease and stroke.
However, there’s a hidden type of visceral fat you hear less about that could be just as dangerous to your health, if not more.
Known as epicardial fat, this fat surrounds your heart and has the potential to cause deadly cardiac problems.
Luckily, scientists have discovered a 100% non-invasive test to analyze a person’s epicardial fat to determine just how much of a threat it poses…
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Getting to the heart of the issue
Every single one of us naturally has a layer of fat around our hearts known as “epicardial adipose tissue.”
When you’re in good health, this fat serves as protection for your heart and is necessary for normal heart function.
But a cascade of common health problems can turn its protective function on its head…
If you’re living with health issues like obesity, diabetes or high blood pressure, or you smoke or have a poor diet, the amount of epicardial fat can build, become inflamed and even undergo harmful changes in composition.
In fact, according to cardiologist, Amit R. Patel, MD, “… depending on its makeup, the fat which surrounds the heart has the potential to release damaging substances directly into the heart muscle, leading to serious heart problems”— including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) and heart failure.
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Poison fat: Analyzing the composition of epicardial fat
Doctors at the University of Virginia Health System set out to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the amount and composition of the fat that surrounds the heart.
MRI has allowed them to analyze not only the amount of heart fat itself but also the amounts of saturated fatty acids, monosaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids — fats commonly associated with our diets — in the epicardial adipose tissue.
The UVA team has already tested their technology in both the lab and human patients.
They were able to determine that the fat around the heart in patients who were obese and had suffered heart attacks was comprised of an excessive amount of saturated fatty acids.
“That suggests that this new MRI technique could become a useful clinical tool for identifying at-risk patients and predicting their outcomes,” Dr. Patel said. “Being able to see the composition of the fat that surrounds the heart will improve our understanding of heart disease and may lead to the development of new treatment strategies in the future.”
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Is there too much fat around your heart?
The good news is doctors can at least see how much fat is surrounding your heart on an echocardiogram or cardiac MRI or CAT scan — even if they can’t analyze its composition yet.
As a rule of thumb, doctors start to worry if that fat is greater than 5 millimeters, or the size of a pencil eraser. But you don’t necessarily need to rely on an MRI…
You can get a good idea of how much epicardial fat you might have simply by looking in the mirror. That’s because studies have linked epicardial thickness to abdominal visceral fat thickness, which is also linked to abdominal subcutaneous fat — and can be measured by BMI and waist circumference.
A BMI greater than 25 puts you at a higher risk of unhealthy epicardial fat. Additionally, a waist circumference higher than 40 inches in men or 35 inches in women could indicate too much fat around the heart.
Research in 2022 found that eating a diet rich in healthy fats, fish, nuts, seeds and fresh vegetables worked to lower the amount of epicardial fat in patients with atrial fibrillation.
You might also consider adding avocados as part of that heart-healthy diet, since a study found that women who consumed avocado as part of a daily meal had a reduction in deeper visceral abdominal fat.
Editor’s note: There are perfectly safe and natural ways to decrease your risk of blood clots including the 25-cent vitamin, the nutrient that acts as a natural blood thinner and the powerful herb that helps clear plaque. To discover these and other secrets of long-lived hearts, click here for Hushed Up Natural Heart Cures and Common Misconceptions of Popular Heart Treatments!
Sources:
Unlocking the secrets of the heart: Simple scan could identify patients at risk for serious heart problems — EurekAlert!
Understanding Epicardial Fat — Premier Health
Effect of Aerobic and Resistance Exercise on Cardiac Adipose Tissues — JAMA Network
PO-696-08 MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND EPICARDIAL ADIPOSE TISSUE IN PATIENTS WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION TREATED WITH ABLATION — Heart Rhythm Journal
The green fruit that keeps deep belly fat away — Easy Health Options
By Dr. Adria Schmedthorst
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