There are a few newsworthy findings reported in this study, recently published in the journal Obesity, that used MRI and MRS (proton MR spectroscopy) to measure the accumulation of fat around the heart and in the liver.

1. Fat accumulation around organs is linked to decreased heart function
2. Body mass index (BMI) is not a reliable predictor of fat accumulation
3. Fat in the liver was associated with insulin resistance and triglycerides.

I have seen numerous individuals who do not appear overweight and whose BMI was normal, but bioelectric impedance analysis (an objective measurement of body fat percentage) revealed that they were ‘metabolically obese’—there was excess fat around their organs. Insulin resistance was a factor in each case.

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