Photo: Darren Hester, Flickr

For years, fat carried around the abdominal area has been regarded as the detrimental by-product of our fast-food consuming, activity-loathing society -- and not just because it looks awful hanging over the edge of your low-cut jeans. Belly fat is just plain bad for your health. In fact, it's the worst kind of fat to have. Or so we thought.

Recent findings from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are suggesting that our obsession with belly fat is misguided -- it's actually the fat that's collected in the liver that we should be concerned with. "Visceral (abdominal) fat tracks closely with liver fat," lead author Dr. Samuel Klein says in a press release. "We have found that excess fat in the liver, not visceral fat, is a key marker of metabolic dysfunction. Visceral fat might simply be an innocent bystander that is associated with liver fat."

The bad news? Unlike belly fat, you can't really tell if your liver is fatty (well, not in a mirror, anyway.) But there is good news. "Fatty liver disease is completely reversible," says Klein. "Even two days of calorie restriction can cause a large reduction in liver fat and improvement in liver insulin sensitivity." So what are you waiting for? Help that liver of yours slim down.

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When researchers asked a group of healthy, active men to cut their activity levels down considerably, something interesting happened. Though the men did not gain weight or noticeable fat, their visceral (belly) fat increased by 7%. Belly fat is the more dangerous type of fat because it surrounds the internal organs and is linked to cardiovascular disease. Exercise reduces belly fat, and according to this study, not-exercising allows it to return.

In addition to increased belly fat, the men also became less sensitive to insulin and their triglycerides also increased. All of these changes occurred in just two to three weeks time.

While the men were still healthy after the study was over, it's clear that exercise is an important part of a healthy life. Even if you can only manage a short or moderate workout, keep moving to help your body stay at the top of its game.

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We've heard it before -- if you want to know the state of your health, turn your attention to your waistline. Waist circumference is getting a lot of attention as the new risk factor for future health problems, even becoming more popular than the old stand-by BMI. Why? That's because belly fat is thought to be more dangerous than fat that pads other parts of your body.

What's so bad about belly fat, or visceral fat as it is known? Researchers at the University of Michigan think they've figured it out. Belly fat, when transplanted into mice, caused more inflammation in the body and was linked to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Mice who received a subcutaneous fat transplant (or fat that sat below the skin) had less significant changes.

Now, you may ask yourself what fat mice have to do with your future health (And you may also ask, how exactly does one transplant belly fat into a mouse? But I don't want to hear the answer to that question, so...moving on...). Health experts think that similar changes occur in humans, and other studies seem to support that claim.

Belly fat responds well to exercise, so even if you're eating a healthy diet, add some activity to your day to whittle that waistline.

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