Not all belly fat is bad.
Frustrated by stubborn belly fat despite regular workouts? A new study suggests that exercise is still beneficial for managing your belly fat in the long run.
According to the research, regular exercise improves the quality of your fat tissue, even if you don’t achieve a flat stomach or six-pack abs. This means that exercise contributes to better overall health by enhancing how your body stores fat, which can be particularly useful as we age and naturally gain weight.
Lead researcher Jeffrey Horowitz, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, explained that exercise not only burns calories but also transforms fat tissue. The study compared two groups of people with obesity: one group who had exercised regularly for at least two years, and another who had not. Researchers analyzed samples of subcutaneous fat, which is fat stored just beneath the skin and is generally considered less harmful than fat stored around internal organs.
The results showed that those who exercised regularly had healthier fat tissue characteristics. Their fat contained more blood vessels, a higher number of mitochondria and beneficial proteins, less collagen that disrupts metabolism, and fewer inflammatory cells. These changes contribute to better fat storage under the skin rather than around vital organs, which is linked to fewer health risks.
In follow-up experiments, fat cells from the active group proved to be more efficient at storing fat. The researchers noted that more long-term studies are needed to fully understand how ongoing exercise affects fat tissue over time.
Discussion about this post