A study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina suggests that exercise may prove helpful especially for those who are looking to reduce fat along their waistline. The researchers found that the subjects who exercised during the study showed a reduction in size of fat cells around the abdomen compared to those who only dieted.
Dr. Tongjian You and colleagues studied 45 obese middle-aged women to investigate the role of exercise in reducing abdominal fat cells. The women were divided into three groups: one that took less-calorie diet, one that took less calorie diet and walked at a moderate pace three days per week; and a third that dieted and walked at a more intense pace three days a week.
Exercise may be especially helpful in reducing the size of fat cells around the waistline -- more so than diet alone, a study suggests. That's important, because fat specifically in the abdomen has been linked to the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
After 20 weeks, all three groups showed improvements in their weight and body fat percentage. But when the researchers took samples of body fat from just below the skin's surface, they found that women in both exercise groups showed about an 18 percent reduction in the size of abdominal fat cells, whereas sole dieters showed no change.
In contrast, both groups trimmed about the same amount from fat cells in the hip area.
Tongjian You told Reuters Health, the findings suggest that exercise may "preferentially increase" the body's breakdown of fat cells in the abdomen.
However, You acknowledged that the there is the possibility that hormonal factors might cause fat cells in the abdomen and hip area to have different metabolic responses to diet and exercise.
The bottom line for people trying to shed pounds is that both exercise and diet are important, and exercise may be particularly key in the ultimate distribution of a person's body fat, You said.
Research is important from the perspective that fat in the abdomen has been linked to the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
The findings of the study are published in the International Journal of Obesity.
Dr. Tongjian You and colleagues studied 45 obese middle-aged women to investigate the role of exercise in reducing abdominal fat cells. The women were divided into three groups: one that took less-calorie diet, one that took less calorie diet and walked at a moderate pace three days per week; and a third that dieted and walked at a more intense pace three days a week.
Exercise may be especially helpful in reducing the size of fat cells around the waistline -- more so than diet alone, a study suggests. That's important, because fat specifically in the abdomen has been linked to the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
After 20 weeks, all three groups showed improvements in their weight and body fat percentage. But when the researchers took samples of body fat from just below the skin's surface, they found that women in both exercise groups showed about an 18 percent reduction in the size of abdominal fat cells, whereas sole dieters showed no change.
In contrast, both groups trimmed about the same amount from fat cells in the hip area.
Tongjian You told Reuters Health, the findings suggest that exercise may "preferentially increase" the body's breakdown of fat cells in the abdomen.
However, You acknowledged that the there is the possibility that hormonal factors might cause fat cells in the abdomen and hip area to have different metabolic responses to diet and exercise.
The bottom line for people trying to shed pounds is that both exercise and diet are important, and exercise may be particularly key in the ultimate distribution of a person's body fat, You said.
Research is important from the perspective that fat in the abdomen has been linked to the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
The findings of the study are published in the International Journal of Obesity.
