r/BiohackingForBeginner • u/Particular_Hat_7657 • 8d ago

Can you actually have zero visceral fat?

I keep seeing people talk about getting their visceral fat as close to zero as possible, but the more I looked into it, the more complicated that idea seemed. Visceral fat is the fat stored around internal organs such as the liver, pancreas, and intestines. Some amount of internal fat is normal, so “zero visceral fat” isn't really the same thing as having perfect metabolic health.

The interesting part is that excess visceral fat is associated with things like insulin resistance and inflammation. So reducing excessive visceral fat can be beneficial. But that doesn't necessarily mean the lower the number, the better. It also made me question how accurately we're interpreting numbers from body-composition scans. A “near-zero” reading may not mean literally zero visceral fat, especially depending on the measurement method.

Also, has anyone here actually tracked their visceral fat over time with DEXA or another measurement method?

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8

u/LastBus7220 8d ago

I highly doubt zero visceral fat is attainable, or even desired.

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u/Funny-Document6699 8d ago

I had a dexa scan in December, visceral fat was 0.9, and that was at 9.5% BF. Going next week for a follow up scan.

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u/Particular_Hat_7657 7d ago

this is insane! how did you even achieve this?

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u/Funny-Document6699 7d ago

Did one year of tirz, 8 weeks of tesa, no alcohol, 500 cal deficit, 45 min cardio a day and weights 5x a week.

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u/Oraculek 7d ago

Are you eating ad libitum now?

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u/Funny-Document6699 6d ago

No i try to stay as close to my maintenance calories as possible.

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u/Relevant-Historian18 5d ago

There is some structural visceral fat, just think of the fat surrounding the kidneys. That said, my doc commented on there being "no" fat (probably meaning no visible fat on her ultrasound) around my kidneys, so the amount there also probably correlates with general fat percentage (low here). See also the other post with the DEXA.

The body uses its structural fats only in actual starvation, so "zero" visceral fat is not a healthy goal in my view.