belly with tape measure

How Your Mental Health Can Impact Your Belly Fat Levels

Are you an apple or a pear? According to WebMD, where you tend to store most of your body fat can tell you a lot about how much visceral fat you might have. If you carry most of your fat around your waist–an apple–it might be a sign that you have more visceral fat. Visceral fat isn’t always noticeable because it’s the fat around your organs. Compared to the subcutaneous fat that’s just under your skin, visceral fat is connected to heart disease, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and high cholesterol.

Visceral fat might also be connected to your mental health. A 2009 study in Psychosomatic Medicine suspected that central visceral adipose tissue, or belly fat around the organs, might be the link between depression and cardiovascular disease. The study recruited 409 women whose average age was 50. The majority of the women were obese, and 20% were smokers. The researchers measured their levels of visceral fat and levels of depression.

The relationship of mental health and visceral fat

female belly with measuring tape

The study found that the higher the levels of depression, the higher the amount of visceral adipose tissue. Women who were clinically depressed had 24.5% more visceral fat than women who had lower depression scores. Study authors suggested that depression might increase cortisol levels, which subsequently increases visceral fat. Both depression and visceral fat have been found to cause inflammation in the body. A 2024 review in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism found that obesity can increase the likelihood of depression and anxiety because brain-gut inflammation affects our emotional centers in the brain. 

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However, researchers aren’t sure what causes what. According to a 2024 review in Neural Regeneration Research, “Obesity is associated with many pathophysiological changes that have the potential to affect the brain negatively, leading to inflammation, which in turn can be both a cause and a consequence of obesity. It is also possible that reduced cognitive function, in particular executive dysfunction, may predispose individuals to obesity.”

Lesa O'Leary
Lesa O'Leary

Lesa is a dynamic member of OzHelp’s Service Delivery Team as the Service Delivery Team Leader and Nurse. She has been with OzHelp for five years and believes in leading by example. Lesa has experience in the not-for-profit sector, as well as many roles throughout different industries and sectors, including as a contractor to the Department of Defence. She has expertise in delivering OzHelp’s health and wellbeing programs and engaging with clients in a relaxed and comfortable manner that aligns with the organisation’s vision and objectives.

Lesa has a Certificate 4 in Nursing from Wodonga Tafe, Certificate 4 in Mental Health from Open Colleges, and is currently undertaking a Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment from Tafe NSW. For the past few months Lesa has been an Education and Memberships committee member of the ACT Branch of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).