by Chris Shugart
A pot belly leads to all kinds of disease states, but it also affects your mood. Here's how to fix that before people start avoiding you.
When I was in my 20s, I promised myself I wouldn't turn into one of those old farts whose whole personality is defined by criticizing and complaining. Those guys just weren't happy or fun to be around. They also had these protruding bellies that made them look pregnant. I didn't want one of those either.
Turns out, those two things – their cantankerous demeanors and their big guts – are related. Both can be caused by visceral fat, that deadly, metabolically active fat that builds up under the abs and around internal organs.
They're not just depressed and grumpy because they have big bellies; they're sad and crotchety because visceral fat is alive, and it affects mood. Sound crazy? Here's the science.
The science of pot-belly sadness
Visceral fat is linked to depression and cognitive decline through several shared and distinct biological mechanisms. Belly fat contributes to systemic disruptions that affect brain function, usually bidirectionally – the two conditions exacerbate each other.
Visceral fat is nasty stuff because it's metabolically active, secreting substances that influence mood and behavior. Studies show a strong correlation between abdominal obesity and depressive symptoms, with causal pathways involving inflammation and hormonal changes.
- Chronic Inflammation: Visceral fat promotes a state of low-grade systemic inflammation by releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β. These molecules cross or disrupt the blood-brain barrier, leading to neuroinflammation in brain regions like the hippocampus and amygdala, which regulate mood. This inflammatory response is associated with depressive behaviors. It impairs neurotransmitter function and neuronal health.
- Hormonal Dysregulation and HPA Axis Hyperactivity: Visceral fat is tied to overactivation of the HPA axis, resulting in elevated cortisol levels. Chronic high cortisol leads to hippocampal atrophy and reduced neurogenesis, contributing to depression and irritability. Hormones from fat tissue, like leptin, become resistant in obesity, disrupting energy balance and synaptic plasticity, while reduced adiponectin levels exacerbate insulin resistance and mood disturbances.
Random Fact: Visceral fat can also infiltrate muscle itself and reduce strength and flexibility. That sucks.
How NOT to be a sad, big-bellied guy
The best way to prevent visceral fat storage is to (wait for it!) not get fat. But new research shows that DHA plays a huge role in fat metabolism, inflammation, and metabolic health. DHA is the more powerful partner of EPA, the two omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil. Consuming enough DHA helps prevent and reduce visceral fat. Here's how:
- DHA reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and promotes anti-inflammatory pathways, decreasing belly fat accumulation.
- DHA impacts the function of fat cells, promoting lipid oxidation (fat burning) and reducing lipid storage. It also improves the sensitivity of fat cells to insulin, reducing the likelihood of abdominal fat storage.
- DHA influences the expression of genes involved in lipogenesis (fat creation) and lipolysis (fat breakdown), tipping the balance toward fat utilization.
- DHA enhances mitochondrial efficiency in muscle and liver cells. This leads to increased oxidation of visceral fat stores.
Early animal studies showed that DHA supplementation reduces visceral fat accumulation, even when the animals are on high-fat diets. Newer human studies show that DHA-rich fish oil reduces visceral fat and waist circumference in overweight individuals with metabolic syndrome.
How much DHA do we need?
You're probably covered if you're eating a pound of sardines a day. If not, you'll need to supplement with fish oil. Up to 90% of the American population is insufficient or completely deficient in omega-3s.
Studies related to DHA and visceral fat are tricky because researchers provide participants with standard fish oil containing far more EPA than DHA. (Fish themselves have more EPA than DHA, so, naturally, most fish oil supplements do too.) Successful studies involve taking 2000 mg or more of combined EPA and DHA, but we know DHA is the powerhouse for fighting visceral fat storage.
Formulating a high-DHA fish oil supplement requires more ingenuity and is more expensive. However, you save money because you don't need as many softgels to get a pharmaceutical amount of belly-fat-fighting DHA.
Our DHA-enriched fish oil supplement, Flameout (Buy at Amazon) contains 2000 mg of DHA, plus some EPA for good measure. Take three softgels daily.
We enhanced the formula by adding an agent used by drug companies to increase bioavailability.