Why You Might be a Secret Fatty

Why You Might be a Secret Fatty, internal fat, slim on outside, fat on inside

New body scanning techniques have revealed that slim-looking people can be dangerously fat on the inside.  In fact, they may be more at risk than apparently obese people. 

 Researchers have coined a new acronym for the phenomenon – TOFI – which means thin outside, fat inside.   Says Prof. Jimmy Bell of Imperial College (where the scanning technique is under development):  ‘Simply being a normal body weight doesn’t mean you’re not storing dangerous fat stores’.

This kind of internal fat can be risky because it can lie around important organs such as the liver and kidneys.  It can also block artery walls, increasing the risk of heart disease.  In addition, this hidden fat may well send out chemical signals which can lead to obesity-related diseases such as diabetes.

It’s believed internal fat may be caused by a sedentary lifestyle i.e. doing less than 2 hrs aerobic exercise per week.  Says Prof. Bell  ‘If you sit at a desk all day…although you may look slim, you’re at risk’.

Yo-yo dieting is one of the worst culprits however.  Extreme diets push the body into starvation mode.  The body burns lean tissue first, leaving behind a higher ratio of dangerous internal fat.

Hammersmith Hospital uses the fat-revealing scan and they estimate that up to 40% of us may have dangerous fat deposits around vital organs.  The key advice given is that dieting must be combined with reasonable levels of aerobic exercise in order to safely burn internal fat.  

Source:  Health and Fitness