My favorite Seinfeld episode points out the truism that the best part of any muffin is the top. Nobody wants the muffin stump; it’s garbage. Muffin tops are coveted…except, well, when it comes to your health.

In nutrition, the afore mentioned “muffin top” is the dreaded accumulation of fat around your mid-section, or visceral fat. Everyone accumulates fat somewhere, but unfortunately those who are genetically predisposed to store fat in the upper body face a higher risk of heart disease and other metabolic disorders.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1987), a high waist to hip ratio is associated with elevated triglyceride, glucose, and insulin levels. This means that you apple shaped people of the world have to work harder to keep high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease at bay. Visceral fat around your vital organs is more likely to be absorbed into the bloodstream (Journal of Applied Physiology, 2005) and thus is far more dangerous to your heart than fat stored anywhere else. Yikes! But here’s the silver lining….

While deep visceral fat around your mid section is more pernicious than your neighbor’s pear shaped badonkadonk, abdominal fat is much easier to lose than any other fat. Interesting how that works, no? Your body is all about helping you win. Studies show that all it takes is low to moderate intensity exercise to help ward off the accumulation of visceral fat. But caution to the sedentary: an inactive lifestyle inevitably increases your stores of visceral fat. So make like Usain Bolt and move!!

Maybe Elaine was actually on the right track… if you only eat the top, you’ll consume less calories, and get the tastiest part of the muffin to boot.

You’ll be muffin top-less sooner than you can say banana nut.