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Visceral fat is the fat that’s deposited within the abdomen, in and around the vital organs (such as the liver and heart). It is different from the fat that’s stored under your skin, known as subcutaneous fat, which you can pinch, and performs a different role within the body.

Unlike subcutaneous fat, which the body stores for long-term use, e.g. during pregnancy or sustained periods without food, visceral fat provides short-term bursts of energy, because it can be easily broken down and used by the body.

Everyone has a certain amount of visceral fat – we need it for our bodies to function properly. However, having too much visceral fat means that increased levels of fatty acids, hormones and inflammatory proteins are released into your system, which can affect the functioning of your vital organs. This is an important cause of many of the health problems associated with being overweight – such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.

Visceral fat occurs in the body naturally, and we need it for our bodies to function properly. Several factors affect the level of visceral fat that different people have. These include age, gender, ethnicity, family history and the menopause.
Your lifestyle also plays a part and the more active you are the more calories you will burn.

A healthy diet and regular exercise can help you lose weight, which in turn can help to reduce the level of visceral fat in your body.

The good news is that even modest weight loss can lead to a significant reduction in visceral fat. Indeed alli used with a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet could help you trim your waist size by a couple of belt notches in six months - waist size was reduced by around 4.5 cm (1.8 inches) on average in clinical studies. In addition, in a 3 month clinical study, visceral fat was reduced in over 70% of alli users who followed a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet.