Long-term exercise can make belly fat 'healthy'

Having a regular exercise routine is not only about shedding that extra pound. A team of researchers at the University of Michigan has unearthed some astonishing information that might change the way we perceive exercise, belly fat, and obesity.

Effect of exercise on belly fat

Regular exercisers with obesity have healthier belly fat tissue. This doesn’t mean they have less belly fat, but rather the fat in their belly is healthier compared to non-exercisers with obesity. So, what does this mean? What makes belly fat “healthy” or “unhealthy”?

The researchers from the University of Michigan found that, when cultured in a lab, fat cells from regular exercisers developed into tissue that stored fat more effectively.

In other words, these cells were more efficient at their job. They could hold onto fat better and in a more organized manner than cells from non-exercisers.

Principal investigator Jeffrey Horowitz is a professor of movement science at the U-M School of Kinesiology.

“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 allows 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,” said Professor Horowitz.

Fat tissue after exercise

The researchers wanted to understand the influence of regular, long-term exercise on fat tissue. Naturally, conducting a study over a long period poses several challenges.

However, the team cleverly compared two groups of adults with obesity – 16 regular exercisers and 16 non-exercisers. These two groups were alike in terms of their body fat mass, weight, and sex.

What did the researchers find? The regular exercisers had distinct characteristics in their fat tissue that increased their capacity to store fat there.

The exercisers had more blood vessels, mitochondria, beneficial proteins, and fewer inflammatory cells. Moreover, there was less of a type of collagen that can interfere with metabolism in the fat tissue of exercisers.

Is more fat healthy?

Isn’t storing more fat a bad thing? Not necessarily. The ability to store fat in the fat tissue just under the skin, or subcutaneous adipose tissue, is considered healthy.

When you increase the capacity to store fat here (through regular exercise), you reduce the need to store fat in unhealthy places, like the fat tissue around the organs or in the organs themselves.

The findings of this study mirror the results of previous research conducted by Horowitz and his team.

“Compared with our previous study in which we examined the effects of three months of training on fat tissue, we generally see these differences are more robust in people who exercise regularly for years versus those who don’t exercise,” said Professor Horowitz.

Regular exercise: Healthy fat storage

Before we proceed, it’s essential to clarify one thing: the regular exercisers were not “gaining” fat. They did not overeat, leading to fat accumulation.

Instead, their fat cells could store excess fat more healthily, focusing on the subcutaneous area under the skin rather than storing it around their organs or in the organs themselves.

This has significant implications for diseases caused by unhealthy fat accumulation, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Regular exercise seems to offer a protective effect by improving the way our bodies store fat.

Professor Horowitz emphasized the need for long-term studies to track how fat tissue changes as people adhere to an exercise program over several years.

Future research directions

The research doesn’t end here. Next, the team will examine whether the fat tissue grown from exercisers and non-exercisers functions differently and if other health-related differences could impact the individual’s tissue and overall health.

Remember the saying, “It’s not what you have, but how you use it”? It seems this could be applied here too: It’s not just about having fat, but where and how you store it. Perhaps we should start thinking about exercise less as a relentless battle against the bulge and more as a long-term investment in our health.

The study is published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

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