Exercise Beats Diet Against Dangerous Belly Fat

Visceral fat, sounds evil doesn't it? It's the layer of fat that surrounds the internal organs of your abdomen. In layman's terms it's your "pot belly" or "beer gut." Excesses of fat are risk factors for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

What makes belly fat so important over other types of body fat are the inflammatory molecules that visceral fat produces and releases into the bloodstream. These inflammatory molecules circulate through the body and can trigger a condition known as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome presents with symptoms like elevated blood pressure and decreased HDL cholesterol.

The first and most common recommendation to combat metabolic syndrome is to make changes in lifestyle, namely to reduce calories in the diet and increase activity levels. A new study by the University of Illinois has shown that exercise alone may be just as effective as the combination of diet and exercise.

The twelve-week study was conducted on rats in four groups: a sedentary control group, a diet-only group, an exercise-only group, and a group that combined a low fat diet with exercise. The only significant differences in the visceral fat in the rats at the end of the study were found in the two groups that included exercise. Even though the exercise-only group maintained a high fat diet, the exercise proved to be enough to decrease the inflammatory belly fat.

This is encouraging news for people with a "pot belly" who are beginning to display symptoms of metabolic syndrome. The exercise program devised for the study was at a very modest level. The human equivalent of the exercise would be a 30 to 45 minute walk five days a week. The same amount of exercise is recommended by the U.S. Department of Health to reduce the risk of other chronic diseases.

Health benefits can be obtained for most people by engaging in physical activity. This study furthers that claim by showing direct correlation between exercise and decreased belly fat. It's just more proof that you should make time in your life for a bit of exercise every day.

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