Not All Belly Fat Is the Same—The 1 Thing You Can Do to Make Yours Healthier
New research found that belly fat behaved differently in people with the same percentage of body fat, based on their long-term exercise habits
- New research found that overweight or obese people who exercise regularly have “healthier” belly fat than people who do not exercise.
- Researchers say healthier belly fat has a greater capacity to store fat under the skin, which is better than storing it around organs like the liver and the heart.
- The healthy fat of regular exercisers also had more blood vessels and fewer cells that cause inflammation, among other advantages.
You might think all belly fat is made equal, but new research shows that the fat tissue found in the bellies of regular exercisers is not only healthier but works more efficiently.
The findings come from a study published earlier this month in the journal Nature Metabolism, in which researchers discovered that belly fat behaves differently in overweight or obese people who are long-time exercisers compared to overweight or obese people who do not exercise.
“Our findings indicate that in addition to being a means to expend calories, exercising regularly for several months to years seems to modify your fat tissue in ways that [allow] you to store your body fat more healthfully if or when you do experience some weight gain—as nearly everyone does as we get older,” principal investigator Jeffrey Horowitz, PhD, a professor of movement science at the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, said in a news release.
But what exactly does it mean to have “healthier” body fat—and can you change yours if you start exercising now? Here’s what you need to know.
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The Research, Explained
For the new study, researchers from the University of Michigan recruited 32 male and female adults with overweight or obesity—16 who reported exercising at least four times a week for at least two years and 16 who'd never exercised regularly but who were similar in body fat mass, weight, and sex.
The researchers took samples of fat tissue from each person’s belly just under the skin—a type of fat called subcutaneous adipose tissue—and measured the amount of blood flow, markers of inflammation, and the rigidity and fibrousness of the tissue.
They found that regular exercisers had structural and biological differences in their fat tissue compared to nonexercisers—specifically that exercisers had more blood vessels, mitochondria, and beneficial proteins, while the nonexercisers had less fibrous tissue, fewer cells that cause inflammation, and less of a type of collagen that can interfere with metabolism.
The differences mean regular exercisers had a greater capacity to store fat in the subcutaneous adipose tissue, reducing the need to store it in visceral adipose tissue—a type of fat tissue that lives around organs like the liver and heart.
“These adaptations to fat tissue that we observed in the exercisers can increase the capacity to store body fat more effectively, safely, and healthfully when we experience episodes of weight gain,” Horowitz said.
What Fat Around the Heart Might Mean For Your HealthWhat Makes Fat ‘Healthier’?
There are many things that can make fat in the body healthier, such as where that fat is located.
Visceral fat—the type that's found deep within the abdomen that surrounds internal organs—is a more dangerous type of fat.
“Fat in organs such [as the] liver and heart, where it's normally not meant to be, is associated with worse health outcomes such as diabetes or heart disease,” Preeti Kishore, MD, MS, chief of endocrinology and director of the weight management program at Jacobi Medical Center and professor of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told Health.
Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is found just beneath the skin. Some subcutaneous fat is beneficial—it’s a source of energy and can offer protection and temperature control for the body. But too much fat overall is still linked to poor health outcomes like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Additionally, some fat, like that found in regular exercisers, is more efficient.“Having more blood vessels and mitochondria also increases the ability of fatty tissue to utilize fats more effectively rather than being stored in harmful organs,” said Kishore.
This can be helpful when people gain weight. “When we gain weight, we expand the total number of fat cells and also the amount of fat stored in each of those fat cells,” Kishore said. “In this case, the total amount of fat in the two groups was the same. However, the fat cells became much more effective in storing fat, which is one of the real jobs of fat cells—to keep fat away from other organs.”
Can You Improve Fat Health If You Start Exercising?
Modest amounts of exercise improve many health outcomes, such as diabetes, heart disease, and mood disorders, among others. But it’s unknown how long and at what frequency you need to exercise to see the benefits of healthy fat storage, according to study researchers.
They do note, however, that each session of exercise promotes very real and clinically relevant responses in the several hours after exercise, like improved insulin sensitivity and lower blood pressure.
Ultimately, study researchers and Kishore agree that it's never a bad time to start exercising and to do so regularly.
“What this study indicates is that fat per se is not necessarily the culprit in poor health outcomes since both groups were matched for many factors, including fat content, but how that fat works to protect your body is more important than the amount of fat,” Kishore said. “We have long known that there are individuals with overweight or obesity who do not easily develop metabolic diseases, also known as metabolically healthy obese. While this study is examining the effects of exercise per se, this study sheds some light on how you can have fat tissue but still be healthier.”
This story originally appeared on: Health News - Author:Lauryn Higgins
