Subcutaneous fat: Is it dangerous and how do you get rid of it?

If you’ve ever stood in front of the mirror and pinched that excess bit of flab on your arm, belly, hip or thigh, you wouldn’t be alone.

When our body fat becomes more visible, it can be natural to find yourself fixating on it, even more so to feel critical of it, particularly if you’ve been trying to lose weight. How, why, and when our body stores fat can sometimes feel like a bit of a mystery, and one we can sometimes unfairly blame ourselves for.

There are different types of body fat after all, and why we have it, how we gain and lose it, and when it becomes an issue beyond a number on the scales are all important questions to ask during a weight loss journey.

So, today let’s take a look at where subcutaneous fat lies, how subcutaneous fat acts, what the risk factors of it are, and what it says about your body.

What is subcutaneous fat?

Subcutaneous fat is the layer of fat that lies just below the surface of the skin. While having too much of it isn’t a good thing for reasons we’ll explore shortly, subcutaneous fat does serve an important purpose in the body, and as a result, everyone must have some.

This particular type of fat, also called adipose tissue, is actually biologically active, playing a vital role in hormone messaging, insulating the body from the cold, thus helping regulate your body temperature, cushioning deep tissues from injury and blunt trauma, and working as a source of energy for the body held in reserve [1]. While having a lot of it will affect your body mass index, having some of it is still vital for your body composition.

Of the two types of fat in your body, subcutaneous fat is considered the healthier type, and generally makes up around 90 per cent of your body fat percentage.

Subcutaneous fat vs visceral fat: What’s the difference?

While subcutaneous fat sits just below the surface of the skin, visceral fat is a type of body fat stored below the abdominal muscles in the abdominal cavity and surrounds the internal organs like the liver, intestines and pancreas.

While it only makes up around 10% of your body fat percentage, many studies have shown that because of its proximity to your abdominal organs, too much visceral fat can significantly increase the risk of several serious health complications [2], making it far more of a concern than subcutaneous fat.

What causes subcutaneous fat?

As subcutaneous fat serves an important function in the body, in particular in being where your body stores energy and how it regulates your hormones, it’s important to remember that everyone is born with some of it, but some more than others.

Genetic factors, general health or metabolic health markers, in this sense, will give you a sort of foundational amount of body fat, but lifestyle factors will greatly affect how much excess subcutaneous fat or intra-abdominal fat you might have.

In particular, subcutaneous fat will depend on your diet and how much exercise you get. If you are eating more calories than you burn, and are living a fairly sedentary lifestyle, you are more likely to carry excess fat across your body. Some health issues, including insulin resistance, though, can also play a significant role in how you carry extra body weight [4].

Can you feel subcutaneous fat?

Yes, you can feel subcutaneous fat. As it sits just beneath the skin, any thigh, arm or belly fat you can pinch between your fingers falls into this category or stubborn fat.

Health risks of too much subcutaneous fat

While subcutaneous fat doesn't have as many serious health risks as visceral fat, and in fact has far lower mortality rates than visceral fat [5], having an excessive amount of it can still lead to some significant health problems.

In particular, research has shown that excessive subcutaneous fat can lead to inflammatory conditions, difficulties with blood pressure regulation, insulin resistance, and several other health complications, which could potentially even cause some issues with reproductive function [3].

On top of that, excess subcutaneous fat can often lead to obesity, which affects joint and bone health, leading to knee, hip and back injury, as well as having a potentially harmful effect on mental state.

How to reduce subcutaneous fat effectively

The question of how you lose subcutaneous fat is ultimately one of how you lose weight. Eating well, getting more exercise, and adjusting your lifestyle will have you burning up those fat cells and working your way towards a healthy weight.

Exercise

When it comes to exercise, most studies recommend a combination of 30 minutes to an hour of moderate-to-intense aerobic activity two or three days a week, such as running, swimming or a HIIT class, plus two sessions a week of strength training or resistance training in order to build muscle mass [1].

While aiming for this is always a good thing, don’t worry if you’re not quite ready to jump all the way in. Starting any exercise routine is going to help you on your weight loss journey, so finding something that works with your schedule and that you enjoy doing is always going to be better than not starting at all.   

Diet

Eating fewer calories than you burn is always the number one advice for losing weight, but it's important to do this in a way that is healthy and sustainable.

Getting a balanced diet of grains, vegetables and legumes, fruits, lean meats, poultry or tofu, and milk, yoghurt and cheese is vital to not just losing subcutaneous fat, but maintaining a healthy diet that has you looking and feeling your best.

It's important to note that your belly fat rises with certain types of food too, so reducing how much oil, processed food, sugar and alcohol you consume will also support your body’s health, functioning and weight management [6].

Lifestyle factors

Weight loss and weight management aren’t all about diet and exercise; many lifestyle factors come into play, including how much sleep you're getting, habits such as smoking or drinking alcohol, and how sedentary your lifestyle is.

If you’re sitting at a desk all day and on the couch all night, that’s going to have as much of an effect on your waistline as what you eat and how much you work out, causing you to gain weight and potentially see changes in your body shape.

Cutting out the bad habits, ensuring you get enough sleep and making sure you move around throughout the day can really help to not just reshape your body composition, but your overall health too [6].

A balanced approach to fat loss

While stubborn subcutaneous fat isn’t as harmful as visceral fat, having too much of it can still cause both physical health issues and psychological ones.

Insecurity around belly fat, flabby arms or big thighs can have a really serious impact on how we view ourselves, which makes treating fat loss holistically really important.

It’s not just about how we measure our waist circumference or the number we see on the scales; it’s about tuning into our body, understanding its needs, and making sustainable changes that can shed those insecurities and have us reclaim ourselves physically and emotionally.

Juniper’s Weight Reset Program supports you to do just this. This program uses medically-backed treatments along with a dietitian's guidance and community connections to see you not just curbing the cravings and burning calories, but building a lifestyle that will see you better understand your body, and manage your weight long into the future.

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