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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Spread the Word

In my last blog post I shared what I have learned about the role of visceral fat in contributing to chronic inflammation on a cellular level.  So, what causes the chronic inflammation to morph into a disease process like fibromyalgia?

The current research indicates that some type of stress on the body is usually the culprit.  We set ourselves up to get sick by constantly exposing ourselves to chemicals in our environment and eating processed food.  I spent decades consuming packaged cookies, candy, ice cream, and other processed foods that had most certainly increased my visceral fat and cellular inflammation levels to extremely high numbers.  But I didn't get sick for a long time. There has to be some type of trigger to make the chronic inflammation spike to cause a full blown disease.

I know what my trigger was because I know exactly when I got sick.  I had a severe allergic reaction to shellfish which sent me into anaphylactic shock.  My body was stressed further when I had to take three injections of epinephrine to bring the anaphylactic shock under control. The next week I had a virus.  This combination of events overwhelmed my immune system, caused the chronic inflammation to go through the roof with no possibility of going back down, and left me suffering with severe fibromyalgia pain and debilitating chronic fatigue.

I know other people with fibromyalgia who have experienced some kind of physical and/or emotional stressors prior to the onset of their symptoms.  Here are some possible stressors:

Suffering severe bodily injury in an automobile accident

Having major surgery

Having a severe allergic reaction

Dealing with ongoing difficult family problems

Being seriously injured from a fall

Having a prolonged viral illness

Okay, so this is rough stuff.  But there is good news to share.  You can get better!  When you stop eating the chemically laden processed food that keeps the inflammation going and start eating healthy whole food filled with antioxidants, vitamins, and anti-inflammatory goodness, you stop the inflammatory cycle and you get well.  I know this is true not because I read it in a book or because some researcher said so.  I know it is true because I was horribly sick for three years and now I am symptom free.

I need you to help me spread the word.  Pass this information along through social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.  Tell everyone you know who suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome that there is hope.  There is something you can do to get better.  I have to go now.  I'm trying to figure out a way to shout it from the rooftops.  

Visceral Fat and Inflammation

My husband, who retired from his private family medicine practice to teach medical students, just came home from a grand rounds lecture at the university.  That sentence sounds boring but I'm stoked, excited, and positively pumped over what he heard from a medical researcher today.

I've been pretty much flying by the seat of my pants trying to find possible causes for my fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms and searching for a cure or at least a way to feel better.  I've ditched processed food and been eating whole foods especially focusing on those that have anti-inflammatory properties and contain antioxidants that help strengthen the immune system.  My symptoms have completely resolved and the lecturer who spoke today shared part of the reason why.

It has to do with visceral fat and inflammation.  Visceral fat is fat that you cannot see that wraps itself around your internal organs, especially organs in the digestive tract including the stomach, liver, and spleen.  This type of fat causes chronic inflammation on a cellular level that leads to a host of diseases including autoimmune diseases like fibro and CFS.  (It also contributes to aging, heart disease, diabetes, depression, sleep apnea, and a bunch of other illnesses, in case you were wondering.)

And guess what is one of the main causes of developing visceral fat and the subsequent inflammation?  Eating processed food full of corn syrup, dyes, trans fats, preservatives, and other chemicals. Wow!  The speaker is working on a research project about this and will publish a paper about it when they complete the study.  He said we should never eat anything that comes out of a box, bottle, can, or package.  He recommends eating the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods I've been eating.  He said eating the Mediterranean type diet is a good place to start.  All of the patients who have followed his advice have significantly improved.  Many of them are completely symptom free.  That's amazing!

All the people they have tested 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.  That is the bad news.  If you fall into that group, don't despair, you can change your ways, pick yourself up and move on toward getting better.  Here's how:

Do not eat any processed food.

Stop drinking soda.

Eat lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.

Eat foods that have anti-inflammatory properties.

Eat foods that contain antioxidants.

If you want more information on getting rid of processed food in your diet, eating healthy foods, and clearing chemicals out of your life, check out previous blog posts.  I was sick for three years but after changing my lifestyle, I feel great.  The trade off of giving up certain foods for the blessing of feeling fantastic is a no brainer.  Nothing that I have eliminated from my diet tastes as good as I feel.

The researcher also recommends exercise to speed up getting rid of the visceral fat and inflammation.  We will save that to discuss another day.

What reasons could keep someone from eating a healthy diet?

Why does the processed food industry not want this information to get out?