Amount of Central Fat Predicts Mortality Risk in Non-Obese Individuals

#103

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. DEXA is a great tool for assessing visceral fat even if it can vary by 200g every time it runs. The visceral fat by age chart had a range of 200g to 5000g. Surely we can learn something about status and progression even with a bit of uncertainty. Besides, how else can you evaluate visceral fat without spending 000’s?

Dr Vyvyane Loh said VAT area was the more important metric (research / data?) and to aim for 70-80 cm2. I was at 88 last June. I don’t know the error bar range on VAT area.

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#104

Given it is worthwhile to give the body a week off from training for recovery, once every three months, timing that with your FMD (or 2-3 day fast) I think is a good strategy.
As for fat percentages, if you are as low as you can comfortably be from sensible eating then just think of any fat round the organs as protection for them from any body blows that you might take - isn’t that why evolution determined that we should accumulate a little bit in those areas.

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#105

After thinking about this a bit more, I’ll bet that VAT “Area” is used in medicine because it is more reliable / stable. VAT volume and mass calculations would have to be based on assumptions since the scan is 2 dimensional.

Does anyone here know about how these VAT numbers are generated?

#106

I agree. While I don’t like the idea of padding my organs, I do agree that I should use these infrequent low calorie periods to reduce my exercise intensity. Muscle can be maintained with far less stress than required to build muscle.

It also would be useful in breaking physical activity addictions that have become excessive.

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#107

Had another Dexa today with the same results for visceral fat with 1lb less body fat. I guess it’s not a fluke and better than Bryan Johnson’s 0.7 in^3!

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#108

A Reminder of the Harms Done by Excess Visceral Fat Tissue

Being overweight correlates with an increased risk of age-related disease and mortality in later life. The greater the excess weight, the greater the risk. A sizable fraction of this risk appears to be mediated by the metabolic activity of visceral fat cells, which promote chronic inflammation through a range of mechanisms. These include an increased burden of cellular senescence, visceral fat cells mimicking the signaling associated with infected cells, and an greater amount of debris from dying and dead cells that provokes a maladaptive inflammatory response from immune cells. Chronic inflammation is characteristic of aging, and is disruptive to tissue structure and function.

Body fat distribution in women changes as menopause progresses and estrogen levels decrease, causing the adipose tissue concentrated in the hips and thighs to gradually shift to the midsection as harmful visceral fat. This predisposes women to low-grade inflammation and cardiovascular diseases, which increase significantly after menopause. A study investigated the connection between health behaviours and low-grade inflammation. Health behaviours in this study include sleeping, eating and physical activity, and related disorders.

“In line with previous studies, a higher amount of visceral fat was, as expected, associated with low-grade inflammation. Visceral fat accumulated in the midsection secretes cytokines that increase inflammation, and this can increase the risk of metabolic diseases.” The results show that those individuals who exhibit more disordered eating behaviour, as well as those who were physically less active, had more visceral fat, and thus the risk of low-grade inflammation was also higher. When eating and physical activity behaviours were examined together, higher physical activity was associated with lower visceral fat, especially in those women who did not display disordered eating behaviour.

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#109

Wondering why having huge amounts of adipose tissue in the hips, thighs and buttocks is so widely promoted in our culture. Is it a predisposition toward self-destructive tendencies?

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#110

Interesting… Can’t you gage it by the way you look? For example, your still look the same, but you stomach circumference has increased.

#111

Now preclinical research by City of Hope has uncovered the cellular culprit behind age-related abdominal fat, providing new insights into why our midsections widen with middle age.

Published today in Science, the findings suggest a novel target for future therapies to prevent belly flab and extend our healthy lifespans.

“People often lose muscle and gain body fat as they age—even when their body weight remains the same,” said Qiong (Annabel) Wang, Ph.D., the study’s co-corresponding author and an associate professor of molecular and cellular endocrinology at City of Hope’s Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute.

“We discovered aging triggers the arrival of a new type of adult stem cell and enhances the body’s massive production of new fat cells, especially around the belly.”

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#112

Excellent about biological process of fat cells increasing in age… even without additional food intake. Hmmm???

From my experience rapamycin can clean our these fat producing cells.

And yeah, definitely get a DEXA body fat scan.

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#113

A team of Japanese researchers has discovered a powerful synergy between gut bacteria and an acetate supplement called AceCel that helps mice lose fat without losing muscle.

When combined with specific Bacteroides bacteria, acetate rewires metabolism, boosting fat burning and reducing sugar availability. This mechanism mimics fasting or a keto diet and could pave the way for new functional foods to fight obesity in humans.

Acetate and Gut Bacteria: A Surprising Duo Against Obesity

A team of researchers in Japan, led by Hiroshi Ohno at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, has uncovered an exciting new approach to reducing obesity. Their study shows that giving the gut extra acetate, a natural compound, can lower both fat and liver mass in mice. But there’s a catch: this effect only works when specific gut bacteria called Bacteroides are also present. When these bacteria and acetate work together, they help the body burn more fat and remove excess sugars from the gut. The findings were recently published in Cell Metabolism.

Obesity is a major global health issue, affecting hundreds of millions of people. It is often linked to high intake of sugar and starchy foods and increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Interestingly, eating fiber has been shown to reduce the risk of these very same diseases. Although humans cannot digest fiber, it reaches the large intestine where it is fermented by gut bacteria. This fermentation produces byproducts, some of which enter the bloodstream and help regulate metabolism.

https://scitechdaily.com/forget-keto-this-fiber-fueled-gut-trick-helped-mice-melt-fat-fast/

Paper:

Acetylated cellulose suppresses body mass gain through gut commensals consuming host-accessible carbohydrates

by Tadashi Takeuchi, Eiji Miyauchi, Yumiko Nakanishi, Yusuke Ito, Tamotsu Kato, Katsuki Yaguchi, Masami Kawasumi, Naoko Tachibana, Ayumi Ito, Shu Shimamoto, Akinobu Matsuyama, Nobuo Sasaki, Ikuo Kimura and Hiroshi Ohno, 16 May 2025, Cell Metabolism .
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2025.04.013

#114

I’m interested. Where can you buy AceCel?

#115

hmmm… doesn’t seem that anyone has really commercialized it yet, mostly available from chemical supply houses:

From google Gemini:

You can purchase acetylated cellulose (also known as AceCel or cellulose acetate) from several sources, including online retailers like Amazon.com and scientific supply companies like Sigma-Aldrich. Additionally, chemical suppliers such as Spectrum Chemical and Alfa Chemistry offer cellulose acetate in various forms and quantities.

see Amazon listing below:

Screenshot 2025-05-22 at 8.21.34 PM
Screenshot 2025-05-22 at 8.21.34 PM2276×956 146 KB

https://www.amazon.com/Cellulose-Acetate-9004-35-7-Purity-35-3/dp/B0BXNNK93S

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#116

Just checking on the toxicity of this substance and it seems fine…

what is the human LD50 for Acetylated cellulose

ChatGPT said:

There is no established human LD₅₀ (lethal dose for 50% of the population) for acetylated cellulose (also known as cellulose acetate), primarily because:

  1. Cellulose acetate is generally considered non-toxic.
  2. It is widely used in medical devices, pharmaceutical coatings, food packaging, and cigarette filters, which implies low acute toxicity.
  3. Animal studies typically show very high LD₅₀ values, often not reaching a lethal dose at tested levels, meaning toxicity is minimal or absent at realistic exposure levels.

Regulatory and Safety Assessments:

  • Oral and dermal exposure to cellulose acetate is generally regarded as safe.
  • It is not classified as hazardous under most regulatory systems (e.g., OSHA, GHS).
  • The material is not readily absorbed by the body and tends to pass through the gastrointestinal tract unchanged.

Conclusion:

There is no published human LD₅₀ for cellulose acetate because it is not acutely toxic in the doses that humans would reasonably be exposed to. It is classified as having low to negligible acute toxicity.

If you’re looking into a specific form (e.g., low vs high acetyl content, or additives in a formulation), let me know, and I can help further.

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#117

I like the Japanese. It seems like they come up with great technology for health. Unfortunately, it seems as if it rarely becomes mainstream. I wonder if this is due to a lack of profits seen by companies?

#118

My choice to swap from semaglutide to tirzepatide was that I heard the GIP component of tirz helps actively burn visceral fat.

#119

Have you managed to lose your percent fat? I’ve gained about 7 kg the past few years, most of it fat it seems, but still actually optimal BMI. I tried tracking food in an excel spreadsheet (kcal/protein) for awhile and it seems to work.

What I’m noticing is that to get enough protein according to the protein bros basically the only thing you can eat is lean protein, vegetables, maybe 50-100 grams of whole grains or slightly more, one or two fruits, and very slight amount of fat.

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#120

I’m going in for a Dexa scan soon so I’ll get back to you on that, but I think it’s working. I’m taking an approach very similar to yours… but avoiding most wheat products. s

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