For many of us, developing Alzheimer’s is very high on our list of health fears. That’s why a brand-new study is potentially so life-altering: Researchers may be able to tell whether you’ll develop Alzheimer’s as much as 20 years before symptoms ever surface.
A new study found a link between a specific type of body fat and two hallmarks of the neurodegenerative disease. Researchers discovered that people with more visceral fat — fat stored deep in the belly, surrounding the liver, intestines, and other abdominal organs — had higher levels of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in their brains. These individuals were in their 40s and 50s and “decades out from developing the earliest symptoms of dementia,” Mahsa Dolatashahi, M.D., one of the researchers, said.
For the study — which was presented this week at the Radiology Society of North America’s 2024 conference — 80 middle-aged, cognitively normal individuals underwent a brain scan (called a positron emission tomography, or PET), MRI, and a battery of other tests. Researchers measured their visceral and subcutaneous fat, which lies beneath the skin and accounts for about 90 percent of our fat tissue. Many previous Alzheimer’s studies have relied on body mass index (BMI) — a widely used and widely criticized health metric — but lately, experts have started to focus less on weight alone and more on body composition, and how where we store our fat could be connected to our risk of developing the disease.
Along with high levels of amyloid and tau, they found that people with lots of visceral fat had less blood flow in their brains compared to others — even those with high levels of subcutaneous fat. Scientists suspect that this decreased blood flow can cause the brain to shrink, which may result in cognitive decline. An earlier study, upon which the current research builds, found a link between visceral fat and atrophy in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory. That pilot study, which looked at 32 middle-aged men and women, also linked this particular type of fat to systemic inflammation.
And it’s not just dementia that’s affected: This deep belly fat fat has also been implicated in a number of chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, asthma, and even breast cancer.
How to reduce your visceral fat
Sadly, there’s no quick fix for shrinking visceral fat. The key is just implementing those pesky “healthy habits” everyone touts: Experts recommend maintaining a balanced diet, getting an adequate amount of sleep, and if you smoke — to quit. They also suggest exercising with a mix of aerobic activity, like brisk walking, and strength training, and not to pay too much attention to the scale. According to Harvard Health, it’s important to remember that even if you’re not losing weight, you may still be losing visceral fat while gaining muscle.
The good news is that this adipose tissue is easier to lose than the subcutaneous stuff, because it metabolizes quicker and your body can shed it through sweat or urine, per the Cleveland Clinic. So while those “new year, new me” diet and exercise lifestyle changes are often the result of wanting to look better on the outside, they can be a truly powerful intervention inside the body as well.
