A practical Broth & Co guide to body composition, abdominal fat, muscle, protein, movement, gut health and metabolic wellbeing.

Why Body Weight Is Only Part of the Story

When people talk about body fat, the conversation often begins with body weight, BMI or the number on the scale. Those numbers can be useful in context, but they do not show the full picture.

Two people can weigh the same and have very different muscle mass, fat mass, waist circumference, fitness, fat distribution and metabolic health. Even body fat itself is not one uniform tissue stored in one place.

Fat stored just beneath the skin is different from fat stored deeper within the abdominal cavity around internal organs. That deeper abdominal fat is known as visceral fat.

At the same time, skeletal muscle deserves equal attention. Muscle is not simply the opposite of fat. It is metabolically active tissue involved in movement, strength, glucose handling, energy use, physical independence and healthy ageing.

For the broader body-composition picture, see Body Composition Explained: Muscle, Fat, Metabolism & Why the Scale Does Not Tell the Whole Story.

What Is Visceral Fat?

Visceral fat is fat stored deep within the abdominal cavity, close to internal organs. It differs from subcutaneous fat, which sits beneath the skin.

 

Appearance alone is therefore an unreliable measure of metabolic health. Someone can appear relatively lean while carrying more central or visceral fat. Someone else may carry more visible subcutaneous fat but have a different metabolic profile.

Why Visceral Fat Matters for Metabolic Health

Body fat is not only passive storage. Adipose tissue participates in hormonal signalling, energy regulation, inflammatory signalling and metabolic communication.

Visceral fat is especially relevant because excess accumulation is associated with a less favourable metabolic profile, including reduced insulin sensitivity, altered lipid metabolism, chronic low-grade inflammation and liver fat accumulation.

This does not mean one measurement predicts a person's future health. Risk is influenced by genetics, age, sex, menopause, activity, diet, sleep, alcohol intake, smoking and existing health conditions. But fat distribution is an important part of the overall picture.

The liver connection matters too. The liver plays a central role in glucose regulation, lipid metabolism, nutrient processing and energy storage. The Gut-Liver Connection: How Your Digestive Health Influences Metabolic Health explains this relationship in more detail.

Muscle: The Other Side of the Metabolic Equation

If visceral fat is one side of the metabolic story, muscle is the other. Skeletal muscle is involved in glucose uptake, glycogen storage, energy expenditure, insulin sensitivity, amino acid metabolism and physical function.

After a meal containing carbohydrate, glucose enters the bloodstream. Skeletal muscle is one of the major tissues that can take up and store glucose. This is one reason muscle is so important for metabolic wellbeing.

Maintaining muscle can support glucose handling, strength, physical activity, energy expenditure, functional independence and healthy body composition. This does not mean more muscle guarantees perfect health, but it does provide a larger metabolically active tissue compartment.

Muscle, Metabolism & Lifelong Health: Why Muscle Matters at Every Age explores why muscle matters well beyond appearance.

Insulin Resistance, Ectopic Fat and Body Composition

Insulin is a hormone involved in blood glucose regulation. When tissues become less responsive to insulin, the body may compensate by producing more. This is known as insulin resistance.

Visceral adiposity is strongly associated with insulin resistance, but the relationship is complex. Physical inactivity, muscle loss, excess energy intake, poor sleep, stress, genetics and ectopic fat storage can all be part of the picture.

Ectopic fat refers to fat stored in tissues not primarily designed for large-scale fat storage, such as the liver, skeletal muscle or pancreas. This helps explain why body weight alone cannot reveal metabolic health.

For more context, see Insulin Resistance: Symptoms, Causes & How to Improve Insulin Sensitivity Naturally and Metabolic Flexibility: The Key to Fat Burning, Energy, Healthy Ageing & Metabolic Health.

Why Ageing Changes the Conversation

With age, muscle mass may decline, strength may decrease, activity may fall, protein intake may become inadequate and visceral fat may rise. These changes can reinforce each other.

This is why the goal should not simply be weight loss. For many people, a better goal is to reduce excess fat where appropriate while preserving or building muscle.

This becomes especially important because aggressive dieting without enough protein and resistance training can contribute to loss of lean tissue. Anabolic Resistance Explained: Why Building and Maintaining Muscle Gets Harder With Age explains why muscle can become harder to maintain with age.

Midlife can also change body composition. Many women notice shifts in abdominal fat distribution, muscle mass, strength, insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure during the menopause transition. Menopause, Perimenopause & Healthy Ageing and Women, Muscle & Metabolism: How to Build Strength, Improve Body Composition & Support Healthy Ageing offer more context.

Men are also vulnerable to increasing central fat with age, especially when activity, sleep, alcohol intake and muscle mass change. Men, Muscle & Metabolism: How to Build Strength, Improve Body Composition & Support Healthy Ageing explores this in more detail.

What Measurements Can and Cannot Tell You

Body weight cannot show fat distribution. Waist circumference can provide useful context for central adiposity, although it does not directly quantify visceral fat.

BMI can be useful for population-level screening, but it does not directly measure muscle mass, fat mass, visceral fat, fat distribution, bone mass or fitness. A muscular person and a person with low muscle mass may have the same BMI and very different metabolic profiles.

Other tools such as DEXA, MRI, CT imaging, bioelectrical impedance and waist-to-height ratio each have strengths and limitations. No single number should be interpreted in isolation.

The Practical Strategy: Preserve Muscle, Improve the Pattern

The most useful strategy is not to chase one food, one measurement or one short-term diet. It is to build a repeatable routine that supports muscle, metabolic health, gut health and recovery.

 

For protein foundations, see Protein Throughout Life: Why Your Protein Needs Change With Age, Protein Quality vs Quantity: Why Both Matter for Health & Healthy Ageing and High-Protein Foods: The Foundation of Muscle, Healthy Ageing & Recovery Nutrition.

For the movement side, see Why Protein and Resistance Training Work Better Together.

Where Bone Broth and Collagen Fit

Bone broth can fit into a body-composition and metabolic-health routine as a protein-containing savoury drink, soup base, cooking liquid or part of a balanced meal.

It should not be made responsible for fat loss. Its role is to contribute naturally occurring protein, collagen-associated amino acids, flavour and warmth within a broader whole-food pattern.

Complete protein foods remain important for muscle protein synthesis. Bone broth and collagen peptides can complement the diet by contributing a different amino acid profile. Bone Broth vs Collagen vs Protein explains the difference.

For the broader food-first view, see Bone Broth Benefits: The Complete Guide to Gut Health, Protein, Recovery & Healthy Ageing, Broth & Co Bone Broth and Bone Broth, Collagen & Functional Nutrition.

Gut, Mitochondria, Sleep and Stress

Metabolic health is a systems story. Muscle, adipose tissue, liver, gut, brain, immune signalling and mitochondria all interact.

Gut health matters because dietary fibre, microbial metabolites, immune communication and food quality are part of the wider metabolic network. Building a Healthy Gut: Why Diversity Matters More Than Any Superfood is a practical place to continue.

Mitochondria are involved in cellular energy metabolism, and muscle tissue contains many mitochondria because movement requires energy. The Gut-Mitochondria Connection: How Gut Health Influences Energy, Ageing & Metabolic Wellness and Mitochondrial Health: The Missing Link Between Energy, Ageing, Metabolism & Recovery explain this connection.

Sleep and stress also influence appetite, recovery, activity, glucose metabolism and daily food choices. Sleep, Stress and Cortisol and Nutrition for Stress Resilience: 10 Foods That Support Mood, Focus & Nervous System Health offer more context.

A Practical Metabolic Health Plate

A useful meal structure does not need to be complicated.

 

Good Health Starts on Your Plate is a useful guide for building practical meals around whole foods.

Recipe: Metabolic Health Chicken, Barley & Vegetable Soup

This soup brings together complete protein, bone broth, barley, mushrooms, leafy greens and vegetables in one practical meal.

Ingredients

·       4 cups prepared Broth & Co bone broth

·       250 g cooked shredded chicken

·       1/2 cup pearl barley

·       1 onion, chopped

·       2 carrots, chopped

·       2 celery stalks, chopped

·       1 zucchini, chopped

·       1 cup mushrooms, sliced

·       2 cups leafy greens

·       Fresh parsley, black pepper and lemon

Method

·       Saute onion, carrot and celery.

·       Add zucchini and mushrooms.

·       Add barley and prepared bone broth.

·       Simmer until barley is tender.

·       Add shredded chicken.

·       Stir through leafy greens.

·       Finish with parsley, black pepper and lemon.

This recipe combines complete protein from chicken, protein and collagen-associated amino acids from bone broth, fibre from barley, diverse vegetables, mushrooms and leafy greens. The Power of Soup: How One Pot Can Support Immune Health, Eat More Vegetables & Reduce Food Waste has more whole-food soup ideas.

Try the Recipes

For practical meals using bone broth, vegetables, protein, herbs and spices, explore our collection of nourishing recipes.

Mediterranean Bone Broth Recipes

From Australia to Asia: A Journey Through Traditional Soups, Broths & Nourishing Recipes

Latin American Soups, Stews & Comfort Food Recipes with Bone Broth

Eastern European Comfort in a Bowl: Traditional Soups & Stews with Bone Broth

Healthy Kids Recipes with Hidden Vegetables

Hawker Bone Broth Recipes

How to Flavour Bone Broth: Herbs, Spices & Gut-Friendly Ingredients

A Well-Stocked Kitchen Is the Secret to Healthy Eating: Effortless Hacks, Smart Staples & Bone Broth Recipes

Healing Soups & Nourishing Broths: Bone Broth Recipes for Recovery

Vegetable-Forward Nourishing Soups

7-Day Bone Broth Meal Plan: Gut Health, Energy & Easy Daily Nutrition

Frequently Asked Questions

What is visceral fat?

Visceral fat is fat stored deep within the abdominal cavity, close to internal organs.

Is visceral fat different from belly fat?

Visible abdominal fat can include subcutaneous fat beneath the skin. Visceral fat is stored deeper in the abdomen.

Why is visceral fat considered a metabolic concern?

Higher visceral fat is associated with a less favourable metabolic profile, including insulin resistance and altered lipid metabolism.

Can a thin person have visceral fat?

Yes. Body weight and appearance do not always reveal fat distribution, muscle mass or metabolic health.

Does muscle support metabolic health?

Yes. Muscle is involved in glucose uptake, glycogen storage, movement, strength and energy metabolism.

Can one food affect only visceral fat?

No single food selectively affects visceral fat. A broader routine involving food quality, movement, resistance training, sleep and recovery is more useful.

Is BMI enough to measure metabolic health?

No. BMI can be useful as one screening tool, but it does not directly measure muscle mass, visceral fat or fat distribution.

Can bone broth fit into a metabolic-health routine?

Yes. Bone broth can be used as a savoury drink, soup base or cooking liquid as part of a balanced meal pattern.

Summary

Where you store fat matters. How much muscle you maintain matters too. This is why body composition gives a richer picture than body weight alone.

Visceral fat is metabolically different from fat stored beneath the skin, while skeletal muscle supports strength, glucose handling, movement, metabolic function and healthy ageing.

A practical strategy is simple but powerful: prioritise muscle, eat adequate protein, resistance train, move regularly, build meals around whole foods, include fibre-rich plants, sleep well and look beyond the number on the scale.