Sex variations in body composition are widely known (Karastergiou et al., 2012; Palmer and Clegg, 20. Women have more body fat than males, whereas men have more muscular mass.
Brown, beige, and white fat exist (Harms and Seale, 2013). White fat is least prevalent in mitochondria and brown fat most plentiful.
Subcutaneous, visceral, and ectopic white fat are classified by location. Internal organs contain the least ectopic fat.
Belly fat growth occurs when visceral fat in the abdomen accumulates, making the belly appear larger. Note that belly fat includes visceral and subcutaneous fat.
This paper examines abdominal visceral fat. Mesenteries and retroperitoneum architecture must be examined to comprehend abdominal visceral fat (Figure 1). Mesenteries link the abdominal cavity wall to the gastrointestinal organ
FIGURE 1. Abdominal visceral fat stores dietary triglycerides. Enterocytes in the intestinal lumen breakdown and absorb dietary triglycerides. The enterocytes release VLDLs and chylomicrons of dietary triglycerides to the lamina propria
Besides attaching gastrointestinal organs to the abdomen wall, mesenteries protect nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels. Importantly, mesenteries store a lot of fat
Many researchers measure abdominal visceral fat by include retroperitoneal fat since it is both intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal (Hung et al., 2014). There are numerous reasons to include retroperitoneal fat in abdominal visceral fat
Abdominal visceral fat is commonly called “visceral fat” which might confuse people. When measuring “visceral fat” from the abdominal region, it may be better to call it abdominal visceral fat instead of “visceral fat.
FIGURE 2. Types of body fat and abdominal visceral fat. Body fat is brown, brownish, or white. White fat is ectopic, subcutaneous, or visceral depending on its position.