Why a little belly fat is healthier than you think

Dr. Jeffrey Horowitz is a professor of movement in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan. “Our study showed that people who exercised regularly over a long period of time showed a positive effect on their fat tissue when they were overweight or obese,” he says. “Regular exercise not only burns calories, but it also changes your fat tissue in a way that allows you to keep your body healthier if and when you do experience some weight gain—and almost everyone does this as they age. »

The study examined and compared belly fat patterns in two groups of adults who (to the naked eye) appeared equally plump, especially in the central region. But one group trained four times a week, and the other did not. “The exercisers had more ‘good fat,'” Horowitz says. “It appears that their efforts increased the ability to store fat under the skin or subcutaneously, rather than around organs.”

So, can you tell how much visceral fat you have? And does this encouraging new research mean we can fill up on tasty chips if we go crazy at the gym afterwards? Here’s what the experts say.

Why is belly fat dangerous?

Visceral fat is stored in the omentum, an apron-like flap of tissue that lies under the abdominal muscles and covers the intestines. The omentum becomes harder and thicker as it fills with fat. “We used to think that this fat was just ’empty storage,’ but new research has shown that this type of fat is a biologically active organ that secretes harmful hormones,” says King.

A growing body of research is linking visceral fat to a surprisingly wide range of health conditions. “Visceral fat interferes with kidney and liver function,” says King. “This contributes to the development of diabetes and circulatory diseases, as well as increased cholesterol levels.” Visceral fat produces proteins called cytokines, which can cause inflammation, a risk factor for heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Research published in Harvard Health The study, which looked at women aged 45 to 79, concluded that those with the largest waists (and those with the largest waists relative to hip size) were at risk of developing cardiovascular disease more than twice as high. Abdominal fat also increases the risk of asthma, dementia, breast and bowel cancer.

What is “good” belly fat?

“We need to rethink how we think about fat,” Horowitz says. “Some amount of subcutaneous fat is good for you. It protects your body and serves as a source of energy. Only 20 percent of healthy fat tissue is actually made up of fat cells; the rest is made up of collagen, which has a lower inflammatory profile. This tissue is also full of capillaries that remove waste from the body.”

However, Horowitz makes it clear that this only applies to subcutaneous fat, which forms under the skin, not around organs.

How to determine what type of fat you have?

“You can’t tell where your fat is by looking in the mirror,” says Horowitz. “It’s even quite difficult to decipher in image studies.” Regardless, a quick Google will bring up plenty of advertisements for readily available scans that promise to show how much visceral fat you have.

For example, the Dexa scan was created to measure bone density, but some practitioners now market it as an expensive private way to study fat composition. “It’s not easy to use a Dexa scan to get detailed information about where your fat is,” says King. “The most accurate way to do this is with a full-body CT scan or MRI, but they are expensive and most doctors will not do them for this purpose.”

The best way to control belly fat is to monitor your waist circumference, according to King. “If you feel like your jeans are getting tight, it means you’re gaining weight in the center,” he says. For a more detailed analysis, measure your waist circumference by wrapping the tape measure around your waist just above your hip bones. For women, being 35 inches or more means you are at risk for health problems related to visceral fat. For men, this number is 40 inches or more.

Then measure your height and divide it by your waist size. A ratio between 0.5 and 0.59 indicates that you have excess fat around your belly. And if your ratio is 0.6 or higher, your risk is even higher.

“For a layperson, this is a pretty good way to determine if you’re in danger,” King says. “This won’t necessarily tell you whether the fat is subcutaneous or visceral, but it’s likely that a large waist circumference is a sign that you have harmful abdominal fat.”

The role of exercise in reducing belly fat

“It’s clear that a physically active lifestyle can mean healthier fat tissue,” says Jeffrey Horowitz. The good news is that while we tend to gain visceral fat faster than subcutaneous fat, research shows that we also begin to lose it quickly when we adjust our lifestyle, especially through exercise.

So, are there specific exercises that can help? Targeted exercises such as squats can tighten abdominal muscles but do not target visceral fat (and liposuction for cosmetic fat removal does not target the abdominal wall). “Unfortunately, it’s not possible to target one area or type of fat,” King says. “To lose weight, you simply need to have an energy deficit, i.e. expend more calories than you take on board.”

Both King and Horowitz suggest that endurance exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling or rowing, is likely more effective than resistance training, such as weight training, which burns fewer calories. 2021 meta-study published in journal Obesity indicated that there is no significant difference between regular exercise and high-impact exercise, so there is no need to go crazy.

However, an important point to note is that exercise alone will not be enough for a global weight loss program. 2021 Obesity The study also notes that exercise is limited to total weight loss of 1.5 to 3.5 kg. Therefore, a healthy diet remains important for overall maintenance of healthy weight and fat composition.

Ultimately, James King applauds Horowitz’s Michigan study, but points out some limitations: The study was “cross-sectional” rather than “causal,” meaning it did not show that visceral fat converts to subcutaneous fat in real time . – he feels that this is encouraging news. “Anything that adds to the ‘exercise is medicine’ story should be helpful,” says King. “This shows another benefit of being active.”