VAT Trap

VAT Trap

By Dr Edward LeathamMedicineHealth & FitnessFitness
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VAT Trap episodes

  • VAT Brain

    Your belly fat isn't just threatening your heart — it's actively damaging your brain. Visceral adipose tissue drives the insulin resistance, inflammation and vascular damage that accelerate dementia, stroke and Parkinson's disease, often decades before symptoms appear. The hopeful part: every step in that chain is, in principle, reversible.

    Read full article

    11 min
  • Is coronary artery calcification good or bad?

    Coronary calcium screening has evolved from expensive research tool to mainstream risk assessment, but fixation on Agatston scores obscures sophisticated plaque analysis. Zero calcium cannot exclude disease in younger patients, while elevated scores demand intensive prevention regardless of traditional risk calculations.

    Full article

    24 min
  • The VAT Trap: Understanding the Metabolic Doom Loop

    Most metabolic problems start years before symptoms appear. Visceral fat creates a self-perpetuating cycle of inflammation and insulin resistance that drives diabetes, heart disease, and weight gain. Understanding this doom loop is the first step to breaking free from it and restoring metabolic health.

    Read the blog

    6 min
  • Why Your Shrinking Muscles Are Making You Diabetic

    Your muscles handle 80% of glucose from every meal, but muscle loss from age thirty creates a vicious cycle. Shrinking muscle forces insulin overproduction, driving visceral fat accumulation and worsening blood sugar control. Strategic resistance training and protein intake can reverse this devastating doom loop.
    45 words · Blog listings · Patient waiting room · Clinic handouts · ADL knowledge chunk

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    22 min
  • Why Your Statin Isn't Enough

    Your statin reduces dangerous cholesterol particles brilliantly, but it cannot touch the metabolic engine room that created your heart disease. The insulin resistance, inflammation, and visceral fat driving your cardiovascular risk continue running unchecked unless you address them directly through targeted lifestyle interventions.

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    6 min
  • The Hidden Fat That Predicts Heart Disease Better Than Weight

    Visceral fat surrounding your organs predicts heart disease better than bathroom scales ever could. Two people with identical weight can have completely different risks depending on where their fat is stored, making waist measurement more important than BMI.


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    17 min
  • Why Half of Heart Attacks Still Surprise Us

    For fifty years, cardiology's three-pillar model missed the fourth factor driving heart attacks. Visceral fat generates chronic inflammation that explains why people with "perfect" cholesterol and blood pressure still have coronary events unexpectedly.

    Read full story

    2 min

About VAT Trap

From the publisher's feed

The VAT Trap book, blog and digital media series reveals how visceral fat — the hidden metabolic organ — drives heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Drawing on 30 years of frontline cardiology and the latest in imaging, app-based tracking, and metabolic science, Dr Ed Leatham translates complex research into clear, actionable steps. Whether you want to avoid heart disease, stabilise your metabolism, or understand GLP-1 therapy, these four concise podcast seasons accompany a four book series that will help you see, track, and reverse the VAT trap.