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Patients perform aerobics at the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital in the city of Tianjin, China in this picture. The hospital, which attracts obese people from China as well as several Asian countries, uses a combination of acupuncture, diet and intensive exercises to help patients shed weight. PHOTO - REUTERS |
NEW YORK - Couch potatoes may quickly accumulate a type of deep abdominal fat that contributes to diabetes and other metabolic problems -but regular exercise can prevent or even reverse the process, according to researchers. Their study of overweight, sedentary adults found that those who started working out on treadmills and stationary bikes tended to lose, or at least not add to, their stores of visceral fat -fat that accumulates around the abdominal organs.
In contrast, their peers who remained sedentary showed a substantial gain in visceral fat over just 6 months, according to findings published in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology. While this deep abdominal fat may not make itself apparent in the form of a spare tire, it is linked to a number of ill health effects, including a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
The new findings show that even moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, may put the brakes on visceral fat accumulation, according to Dr. Cris Slentz, an exercise physiologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
What's more, study participants who got the most exercise - the equivalent of jogging 20 miles per week - shed both visceral fat and the superficial layers of abdominal fat that make for love handles. The intensity of the exercise did not seem to matter as much as the amount. The bottom line, according to Slentz, is that inactivity comes at the "high cost" of rapid fat accumulation, while regular exercise can at least prevent such an increase.
In a culture that values quick results, he said, the idea of maintaining what you have is a "hard sell." But long-term weight maintenance, as opposed to repeated yo-yo dieting, is a worthy goal.
Moderate exercise in this study - walking for about 3 hours a week - was enough to prevent fat gain, and it is in line with health officials' advice for all adults to fit in 30 minutes of moderate activity on most, if not all, days. That's a level of exercise most people can achieve. Reuters
