Is Invisible Fat Making You Sick?

Hiking to walk off the visible fat. Eating real food to get rid of the visceral fat.

Researchers are unsure what causes fibromyalgia. Check out the post from Jan. 18 for a discussion of three possible triggers. Although the disease may be set off in different people by a different convergence of events, one thing that all fibromyalgia patients have in common is increased inflammation throughout the body. And one thing known to cause widespread inflammation is visceral fat.

Visceral fat is fat that you cannot see. You don't have to appear obese to have it. Many thin people have a significant amount of visceral fat. This type of fat wraps itself around your internal organs, especially organs in the digestive tract including the stomach, liver, and spleen. Visceral fat causes chronic inflammation on a cellular level that leads to a host of diseases including autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia. It also contributes to aging, heart disease, diabetes, depression, sleep apnea, some types of cancer, and many other illnesses. 

I am working to get rid of my visible fat and increase my overall stamina by walking, using a fitness tracker, light weight lifting, doing Tai Chi, and stretching. To recover from fibromyalgia, it was important for me to understand the harm that invisible visceral fat causes and find ways to increase my overall well-being by getting rid of it.

One of the main causes for developing visceral fat and the subsequent inflammation it creates is eating too much processed food full of corn syrup, artificial dyes, trans fats, preservatives, and other potentially harmful chemical additives. Researchers studying the link between visceral fat and inflammation say that we should never eat anything that comes out of a box, bottle, can, or package. They recommend eating real whole foods with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients.My personal goal is to eat real food at least 90% of the time. I heard one physician say that if he could get his patients with autoimmune diseases like fibromyalgia to eat real food for at least 80% of their diet they always showed significant improvement.

People who eat processed food, drink soft drinks, and consume other packaged products have high levels of visceral fat even if they are not visibly overweight. I had been eating processed food mindlessly for decades when I developed fibromyalgia. When I changed my diet to include mainly whole real foods and eliminated as many chemicals as possible from my daily routine, my symptoms completely resolved.

• I stopped eating processed food with harmful additives.
• I stopped drinking all soda. 
• I eat a wide variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.
• I eat foods that have a lot of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients.

The trade off of giving up certain foods for the blessing of feeling better is certainly worth it. Nothing that I have eliminated from my diet tastes as good as it feels to be well. I would love to get your feedback in the comments section. What do you think might keep someone from eating real food? Why would the processed food industry not want people to understand how harmful many of their products are? What else would you like to know about fibromyalgia recovery?


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