Q. My InBody results consistently show a high abdominal fat percentage. What exactly is this, and why is it considered so important when dieting?

Many people experience a 'stubborn belly' despite overall weight loss efforts, often due to lifestyle factors like stress and poor diet. Medically, abdominal fat—specifically visceral fat—is not just stored energy; it acts as an active endocrine organ that releases inflammatory cytokines into the bloodstream, impairing your overall metabolic capacity. This is often the primary culprit behind the frustrating 'weight loss plateau' where you don't lose weight even while eating less. In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), this condition is interpreted through the concepts of Dam-eum (phlegm-fluid retention) and Eohyeol (blood stasis). Dam-eum refers to a state where metabolic waste products accumulate and become viscous, while Eohyeol occurs when blood circulation is impaired, leading to stagnation. These waste products tend to accumulate in the abdomen particularly when there is 'Spleen Deficiency' (Bi-heo), a state where the digestive system's functional capacity is weakened, causing energy metabolism to malfunction. Therefore, simply starving yourself is not the solution. If you fast while in a state of Spleen Deficiency, you may lose lean muscle mass while your abdominal fat percentage remains unchanged. The key is to first clear these internal metabolic wastes and optimize your internal environment. I recommend a consultation to identify exactly where the blockage in your metabolism is occurring so we can target the root cause of the fat accumulation.