New findings suggest that not all fat is equal: ethnicity plays a part in where people store their body fat.
A study at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, showed that there are variations in how we store our visceral fat – that is, fat found around the abdominal organs.
Researchers used CT scan and advanced X-rays to examine more than 1,300 Caucasians and more than 500 African-Americans – ranging in size and ranging in age from teens to the elderly.
According to the findings, African-Americans have a lower level of visceral fat than Caucasians, regardless of their size. On the other hand, Caucasians tend to have a lower level of subcutaneous fat, which is the fat found right under the skin.
What does this mean? People who have more visceral fat around their organs have a higher chance of developing diabetes and heart disease, because too much fat in that area can cause inflammation that throws your system out of balance.
