Hostility Associated with Visceral Fat in Middle-Aged Women

In a study conducted at the Yale University School of Medicine and recently published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers found that higher levels of hostility were associated with a greater amount of visceral fat in both African-American and white middle-aged women. This association remained significant after further adjustments for education and multiple coronary heart disease risk factors. Hostility was not associated with subcutaneous fat. They concluded that hostility may affect risk for coronary heart disease in women via the accumulation of visceral fat.

I think these findings are very significant and point once again to the link between stress (as hostility is a toxic emotion) and abdominal fat. Visceral fat, which hugs the internal organs, such as the kidneys, liver and pancreas, is considered to be more dangerous that subcutaneous fat, which is deposited just below the skin. My hunch is that hostility kept inside is even more dangerous than hostility that is outwardly expressed.