You Can Have a Normal Weight and Still Be at Risk for Heart Failure

Research Highlights

• Fat stored around the waist, often called belly fat or visceral fat, showed a much stronger link to heart failure risk than body mass index (BMI), making waist size a more revealing measure of risk.
• Inflammation throughout the body emerged as a major factor connecting abdominal fat to heart failure, accounting for roughly one-quarter to one-third of that increased risk.
• Because inflammation plays such a central role, targeting and reducing inflammation could become an important strategy for lowering heart failure risk in people with excess belly fat.

Belly Fat and Heart Failure Risk

New findings presented at the American Heart Association’s EPI|Lifestyle Scientific Sessions 2026 suggest that excess fat around the waist (central obesity or visceral fat) may raise the risk of heart failure, largely due to inflammation. The conference, held in Boston from March 17 to 20, highlights the latest research on prevention, lifestyle, and cardiometabolic health.

Waist Size vs BMI in Predicting Risk

Researchers reported that higher levels of visceral fat were more closely associated with heart failure risk than overall body weight. Larger waist measurements were linked to increased risk even among individuals whose body mass index (BMI) fell within a normal range. The results indicate that fat distribution may play a more important role than total weight. Inflammation appears to be a key factor that helps explain why fat stored around the abdomen is particularly harmful to the heart. These findings suggest that measuring waist size could improve how clinicians identify people at higher risk, rather than relying on BMI alone.

“This research helps us understand why some people develop heart failure despite having a body weight that seems healthy,” said Szu-Han Chen, lead author of the study and a medical student at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. “By monitoring waist size and inflammation, clinicians may be able to identify people with higher risk earlier and focus on prevention strategies that could reduce the chance of heart failure before symptoms begin.”

Inflammation as a Key Driver

A 2025 scientific statement from the American Heart Association on risk-based primary prevention of heart failure emphasizes that systemic inflammation, or inflammation throughout the body, is a major contributor to heart disease. It can interfere with the immune system, damage blood vessels, and promote the formation of scar tissue in the heart. The Association has also pointed to evidence that higher inflammation levels are linked to greater heart disease risk, even in people with normal cholesterol.

Key Study Findings

The study reported several important results:

• 112 adults developed heart failure over a median follow-up of 6.9 years
• Higher levels of excess fat around the waist were associated with increased heart failure risk, while higher BMI was not
• Both waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio were linked to greater risk
• Participants with higher inflammation levels, based on blood tests, were more likely to develop heart failure during the nearly seven-year follow-up
• Inflammation explained about one-quarter to one-third of the relationship between abdominal fat and heart failure risk

Implications for Prevention and Care

“This study highlights the importance of integrating measures of central adiposity such as waist circumference into routine preventive care. Understanding upstream drivers of heart failure risk including central adiposity is key to recognizing and modifying risk,“ said Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., FAHA, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association’s 2025 Scientific Statement: Risk-Based Primary Prevention of Heart Failure.

“This study builds on prior research that highlights the importance of excess or dysfunctional adiposity in the development of heart failure, which informed the inclusion of body mass index into the PREVENT-HF risk equations to estimate risk of heart failure. However, future research should identify if central adiposity has greater predictive utility beyond strength of association.”

Khan, who was not involved in the study, is also Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology and an associate professor of cardiology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Study Limitations and Future Research

The researchers noted that they were unable to analyze specific types of heart failure, so the findings apply to heart failure overall. Future studies are needed to explore how visceral fat and inflammation may affect different forms of heart failure and whether reducing inflammation could lower risk.

Study Details and Design

The analysis included data from 1,998 African American adults living in urban and rural areas of Jackson, Mississippi, who participated in the Jackson Heart Study. None had heart failure at enrollment between 2000 and 2004.

Participants ranged in age from 35 to 84, with an average age of 58, and 36 percent were women. They were followed for a median of 6.9 years, through December 31, 2016.

Researchers evaluated body fat using several measures, including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio. Blood samples were also analyzed to measure high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a widely used marker of inflammation.

The study was conducted under the guidance of Professor Hao-Min Cheng at Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  

https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    

https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com   is the latest addition to my blogs

The 7 REAL Reasons Apple Cider Vinegar Works for Losing Weight

If you are looking for a more functionally diverse substance than apple cider vinegar (or ACV), good luck! This liquid miracle can protect against diabetes, heart disease, even cancer. It can clear up skin infections. And it can even be used for household cleaning.

If that isn’t enough, apple cider vinegar is also very good at helping you lose weight faster. While not a standalone diet – calorie reduction and exercise are also very important – ACV can extend the efforts you’re already making and help you see progress sooner.

The acetic acid in apple cider vinegar has been linked to this incredible weight loss.

Here are the 7 real reasons you can count on apple cider vinegar to help you slim down and improve your all-around health.

1. It Burns Fat And Reduces Stored Fat

For one thing, acetic acid helps you burn fat. But even better, it actually reduces the body’s tendency to store fat at all. In rat and mouse studies, acetic acid was found to activate the genes that reduce belly and liver fat storage. Further studies in humans have supported this result.

One human study found that participants who ingested either one or two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar every day all lost weight as well as had a reduction in body fat percentage, waist circumference, and triglyceride levels.

The participants who were given two tablespoons fared better than those who took just one, while those on a placebo were found to have gained a few pounds on average.

2. It Suppresses Appetite
We all know that cravings are diet-killers. Your brain can be quite persuasive when it comes to eating food rich in fat and sugar. But taking some apple cider vinegar with meals can actually suppress the centers in your brain that control appetite. Imagine dieting without the constant mind-over-matter struggle!

Another way it helps is by slowing the rate at which food leaves your stomach. That means you will feel full longer and be better able to resist the urge to eat between meals. Studies have shown that people who take ACV with their meals eat about 200-275 fewer calories throughout the day than people who don’t.

3. It Improves Metabolism

Metabolism is one of the most commonly misunderstood functions of the body. It actually describes the collection of functions the body must perform in order to sustain life. Digestion, by which food is converted into fuel, is just one of those functions. However, the higher your metabolism, the more calories your body burns and the easier it can be to lose weight.

Once again, it is the acetic acid in apple cider vinegar that researchers think is responsible for higher metabolic rates. Most studies on ACV and metabolism have been on rats, but the results are interesting.

Rats who took acetic acid in the course of these studies had a higher production of the enzyme AMPK . Humans also produce AMPK to burn fat as well as limit development of fat and sugar in their livers.

4. It Makes Food Safer

 When you’re on a diet, chances are you’ll be adding a lot of chicken, seafood, and flesh produce to your diet. Unfortunately, these foods all top the list of the most recalled food products.

They may be easily contaminated with food borne germs such as salmonella, listeria, or E. coli. We all know that once you’ve been made sick by a particular food, your willingness to eat it again goes way down.

Apple cider vinegar can kill the bacteria that cause food poisoning. Certain studies have shown that vinegar may reduce the level of bacteria on food by 90% and eliminate 95% of some viruses. Of course, you still need to observe food recalls and to wash all produce carefully. Remember, throwing up for days may make you skinnier, but it won’t make you healthier, and that’s really what you’re going for.

5. It Lowers Cholesterol

Apple cider vinegar provides other benefits that may help you keep your motivation up while dieting. One is that it reduces bad LDL cholesterol and raises good HDL cholesterol at the same time. It has also been shown to improve dangerous triglyceride levels. Studies in both healthy and diabetic rats and mice have made this conclusion.

People who are overweight do have an increased risk of high cholesterol, though it strikes people of normal weight, too. Anyone who wants better health should consider an apple cider vinegar regimen, but people who are actively trying to lose weight will be glad to know that they are killing several birds with one stone.

6. It Lowers Blood Pressure

In that same vein, animal studies have also found that apple cider vinegar inhibits the enzyme responsible for constricting blood vessels, so taking it regularly can lower your blood pressure. Honestly, apple cider vinegar along with your chosen weight loss plan has a synergistic effect on all your other efforts.

For example, hypertension makes your heart work harder, even at rest. You need to exercise in order to lose weight, but you also need to be gentle on a heart under strain. ACV can help you lose weight, which already relieves a burden on the heart, plus lower dangerous blood pressure. That can put you in a good place to increase your workout intensity.

7. It Improves Blood Sugar And Insulin Use

Blood sugar and weight loss are linked in a vicious cycle. When you gain weight, your risk for type 2 diabetes increases because the extra pounds are associated with insulin resistance. Once you have insulin resistance, it actually becomes very difficult to shed the extra pounds. However, losing weight is what you must do to reduce the chances of getting full blown diabetes.
Adding apple cider vinegar to your meals lowers blood sugar and insulin levels typically generated by the carbohydrates in food. Studies have been done with people who already have type 2 diabetes and the results were impressive – when participants took ACV with meals their insulin sensitivity was improved by up to 34%.

Diabetics who drank some apple cider vinegar with a high-protein snack in the evening had a two-fold decrease in their fasting blood sugar.

Yep, apple cider vinegar is an amazing product with a ton of health benefits. Having an easier time losing weight is just one of them; you can improve blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin sensitivity as well as reduce your risk for some scary diseases like cancer. And if you have any left, you can clear up fungal infections of the skin and disinfect the surfaces in your home.

A good amount in general is two tablespoons per day, and the benefits seem greater if you take them with a meal. One word of caution is for people who already have diabetes and take medication to manage it, and those with low potassium levels or a history of blood clots.

In these cases, ask your doctor before beginning an apple cider vinegar regimen.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                
 PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                             FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                               
     https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                     
  FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                  https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com