Is fat muscling in on your health?
Fat that accumulates around muscles, below the facia (the tissue that separates muscles) and between muscle fibers is called intermuscular fat -- and it puts you at increased risk for chronic inflammation, heart disease and heart attack or stroke, even if you aren't diagnosed with obesity. That's because intermuscular fat damages micro-blood vessels that affect blood flow to heart tissue.
According to a study out of Brigham and Women's Hospital, being able to spot that accumulation of fat and damage to micro-vessels using PET and CT scans gives doctors another way to intervene and protect your heart. But an even better approach is for you to prevent over-accumulation of intermuscular fat.
-- If you become less physically active -- or never were -- you accumulate more intermuscular fat. Getting aerobic exercise is important, but resistance training is especially protective.
-- Developing insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes also ups the accumulation of intermuscular fat. If you have either condition, it's even more important to adopt lifestyle and medical remedies that reverse the conditions.
-- A diet high in red meat, processed red meats, highly processed foods, added sugars and excess calories and low in fiber and 100% whole grains leads to intermuscular fat. Opting for a Mediterranean-style diet is beneficial.
-- Achieving a healthy weight is also effective -- but you also need to adopt regular exercise and healthy nutrition routines to have it reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
For more help, check out our book "You: The Owner's Manual (updated)" and read "Top 3 Healthy Fats to Incorporate into Your Diet" at iHerb.com/blog.
Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world's leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively. Together they have written 11 New York Times bestsellers (four No. 1's).
(c)2025 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2025 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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