Sports Can Produce A Healthier Type Of Stomach Fat, Research Findings

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JAKARTA - People with excess weight or obesity who exercise regularly for a long time are proven to have healthier belly fat, compared to those who do not exercise.

This is based on the results of a new study published in the journal Nature Metabolism, which is adapted from the WebMD page, Thursday, September 12. Researchers define regular and long-term exercise performed at least four times per week for at least two years.

Our findings show that in addition to being a means of burning calories, exercising regularly for months to years seems to change fat tissue in a way that allows you to store body fat more healthy if or when you experience weight gain. As experienced by almost everyone as you get older, said researcher Jeffrey Horowitz, PhD, a professor of movement science at the University of Michigan Faculty of Kinesiology, in a statement.

This study is small-scale and involves only 32 adults who are obese or overweight, half of whom are people who regularly exercise. The average body mass index among those studied is about 30, which is the initial value of a person who is said to be obese. (The body mass index is a high calculation and weight.) People in each group are matched based on things like gender, weight, and body fat mass. Their age ranges from 25 to 37 years.

The researchers sampled belly fat tissues from just below the skin and found different structural and biological characteristics. The network of people exercising has greater capacity to store fats just under the skin in the stomach (types that can be sandwiched with fingers), and the tissue functions differently from the tissue of people who do not exercise.

The sample of sports group networks tends to have more useful blood vessels and proteins, and that difference means fewer inflammation possibilities and fewer types of collagen that can disrupt metabolism.

This finding is important because places of fat stored in the body can have different health impacts. Fats stored just below the skin, in so-called subcutaneous adipose tissues, have a smaller potential to cause negative health impacts, compared to when the body stores deeper fats, such as around or even inside the organ. Such potentially toxic fats are called visceral fats and have been associated with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

"This means that if or when people experience weight gain, these excess fats will be stored more 'healthy' in areas under the skin, than in fat tissues around their organs (visceral fat) or accumulated fats in the organs themselves, such as the liver or heart," said Horowitz.