Study: Exercise May Help You Store Fat Better

A new study has found that exercise not only helps you lose fat, it may also help boost healthy fats.

“Living a physically active lifestyle and exercising regularly over time helps fat tissue be more accommodating to excess energy in situations where we gain weight,” said study lead author Dr. Jeffrey Horowitz, a professor of movement studies at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology in the US.

To see how exercise affects fat tissue, the researchers compared subcutaneous fat tissue in two groups of 16 obese people. The first group included those who reported exercising at least four times a week for at least two years, while the second group included people who did not exercise regularly, according to the study published in the academic journal Nature Metabolism.

Those who exercised regularly had fat cells that showed characteristics that increased their ability to store fat, such as increased blood vessel count, protein synthesis, and fewer inflammatory cells, Horowitz explained.

He added that it is important that the subcutaneous adipose tissue has greater capacity so that if a person gains weight, he can store fat there instead of accumulating in more dangerous places, such as the heart or liver.

"Unfortunately, most of us, even those who exercise regularly, gain weight as we age," Horowitz noted.

"If we have more capacity to store fat in our adipose tissue, less of it will go to the liver and the heart, and all the other places that can really cause a problem if you're overweight," he continued.

The study suggests that researchers need to learn more about adipose tissue and how it relates to metabolic health and lifestyle changes, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular disease prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, who was not involved in the study.

Fat tissue was previously understood to be just for storing energy, but researchers are now beginning to discover that it has many functions, Freeman said. "It makes sense to have some fat as a reserve, but not to the extent that the average American does," he added.

The goal isn’t to have more fat tissue, but to improve its storage capacity, Horowitz added. Fat has to be stored under the skin, and if it can’t, it will go to other places like the liver, heart or pancreas. “Having more fat in these organs impairs their function,” he continued.

Exercise recommendations

Horowitz noted that the most important finding of the study is that storing fat more healthily is just another good reason to live a physically active life.

"We are not changing this recommendation, but we are expanding the understanding of why exercise is beneficial," he said.

Freeman recommended trying to exercise in the morning, noting that exercise "acts as a natural stimulant, just like coffee in many cases."

"There are many ways to exercise, make it part of your daily routine, and make it a habit that people stick to," Freeman said.

(CNN)