Long-term exercise has healthy belly fat

Long-term obese people who exercise have healthy belly fat and can store fat there more effectively than non-exercising obese people, according to a new study.

The research team also grew fat cells in the lab from cells collected from exercisers and non-exercisers, and the cells from the exercisers successfully became fat-storing tissue.

“Our research shows that regardless of calorie intake, regular exercise over several months to years appears to change your fat cells in ways that allow you to maintain body fat. your health better if or when you gain some weight—as almost everyone does as we age,” says lead researcher Jeffrey Horowitz, a professor of science at movement at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology.

Researchers wanted to see the effects of years of regular exercise on fat, but it is very difficult to do a study to follow this long. Instead, they compared two groups of obese adults: 16 people who reported exercising at least four times a week for at least two years—an average of was 11 years old; and 16 people who did not exercise regularly but agreed on other factors such as weight, weight and sex. The team took samples of subcutaneous abdominal fat from both groups.

They found that people who exercised had unique structural and biological characteristics in their fat cells that increased their ability to store fat there. People who did not exercise did not have those characteristics. Specifically, those who exercised had more blood vessels, mitochondria, and beneficial proteins, and less collagen that can disrupt metabolism and fewer cells that cause inflammation.

This is important because the healthy place to store fat is the fat under the skin where the samples were taken, called subcutaneous adipose tissue. Increasing the ability to store fat here through exercise reduces the need to store fat in unhealthy areas, such as in the fat cells around the organs or in the organs themselves.

“Compared to our previous study where we looked at the effects of three months of training on fat tissue, overall we see this difference is much stronger in people who have been exercising regularly for years,” says Horowitz. many who don’t exercise,” Horowitz says.

It is important to note that increasing fat storage capacity is not the same as gaining fat, which requires overeating.

“The implication is that if or when people gain weight, this excess fat will be stored ‘healthily’ in this area under the skin, rather than the surrounding fat. their organs (visceral fat) or the accumulation of fat in the skin. The organs themselves, such as the liver or heart.”

Another disease caused by the accumulation of unhealthy fat that is gaining more attention in the US and elsewhere is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which occurs more often in people who are overweight or obese. Excess fat accumulates in the liver and can cause diseases such as cirrhosis (often seen with alcoholism) or cancer.

Horowitz says it’s important to do long-term studies to follow people when they start and maintain an exercise program for several years to see how their fat cells change—even if they don’t change the amount of fat. the fatty acids they contain. It is also important to know if there is a type or intensity of exercise that achieves a better response to change fat cells.

In subsequent studies, the team will also examine whether fat cells grown from exercisers and non-exercisers behave differently, and whether there are other health-related differences. which translates into the health of the cells and the person from whom the cells come.

Research appears on Nature Metabolism.

Source: University of Michigan