abdominal fat tagged posts

Characterization of Adipogenic Activity of House Dust Extracts and Semi-Volatile Indoor Contaminants in 3T3-L1 Cells

Poor diet and a lack of physical activity are major contributors to the world’s obesity epidemic, but researchers have also identified common environmental pollutants that could play a role. Now one team reports in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology that small amounts of house dust containing many of these compounds can spur fat cells to accumulate more triglycerides, or fat, in a lab dish.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, are synthetic or naturally occurring compounds that can interfere with or mimic the body’s hormones...

Know your risks for metabolic syndrome. Credit: Image courtesy of American College of Cardiology

Increasing stomach fat – especially the “hidden fat” in your abdomen – is associated with newly identified and worsening heart disease risk factors, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. These adverse changes in cardiovascular risk were evident over a relatively short period of time and persisted even after accounting for changes in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, two commonly used methods to estimate whether someone is a healthy weight or not.

Previous studies have shown that people who carry excess abdominal fat around their midsection -“spare tire”- tend to face higher risks of heart disease compared to people who have fat elsewhe...