Surprise: Everyone has some fat on the stomach, even individuals with flat abs.

This is normal. But in a way other fat doesn’t influence your health too much stomach fat.

Some of your fat is just below your skin. Other fat around your core, lungs, liver, and other organs is deeper inside.

It’s that deeper fat— called “visceral” fat— that can be the larger issue, even for the thin ones.

Deep fat in the belly

You need a certain amount of visceral fat. It offers that your organs are cushioned. But if you have too much of it, you may be more likely to get high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and some cancers, including cancer of the breast and colon.

The fat is not just sitting there. It’s an active component of your body, making “lots of nasty drugs,” says Kristen Hairston, MD, Wake Forest School of Medicine’s assistant teacher of endocrinology and metabolism.

Your body begins to store your fat in uncommon locations if you gain too much weight.

With growing obesity, you have individuals whose periodic fat storage regions are so complete that the fat is deposited in the bodies and around the core, tells Wake Forest School of Medicine professor Carol Shively, PhD.

How much fat do you have in your belly?

A CT scan or MRI is the most accurate way to determine how much visceral fat you have. But there’s a way to check a lot simpler, low-cost.

Get a measuring tape, wrap it on your stomach button around your waist and verify your girth. Do this while standing up and make sure the measure of the tape is level.

Check out this Weight Consious Creamy
Coconut Thai Red Curry Recipe

For the sake of your health, if you are a woman, less than 35 inches and if you are a man, you want your waist size to be less than 40 inches. Having a “pear shape”— bigger hips and thighs— is considered safer than an “apple shape,” which describes a wider waistline.

“What we’re really pointing to with the apple versus pear,” says Hairston, “is that if you’ve got more abdominal fat, it’s likely an indication you’ve got more visceral fat.”