Women’s Essentials Expert

Women trying to shrink their big bootys should think again because body fat found on the buttocks may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

The Harvard Medical School study compared subcutaneous fat (on the buttocks) to visceral fat (around the waist and organs) and found the later was more harmful to health.

Fat transplant research conducted on mice showed that when subcutaneous fat was injected into the abdominal area, the mice lost fat mass and their blood sugar lowered
The subcutaneous fat, which is more commonly found on women’s legs and buttocks than men’s, has also been shown to improve the production on the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels and adipokines which boost the metabolism.

Professor Ronald Khan, who led the research, said: “The surprising thing was that it wasn’t where the fat was located, it was the kind of fat that was the most important.

“Even more surprising, it wasn’t that abdominal fat was exerting negative effects, but that subcutaneous fat was producing a good effect.”

Dr David Haslam, from the National Obesity Forum, has said that this new research may create distrust in the Body Mass Index (BMI) to asses a person’s weight as healthy or unhealthy, as it does not specify different types of fat.

Haslam says it is still important that people try to control their weight through healthy eating and exercise because these activities would still combat visceral fat levels and not subcutaneous.

Medical director of the charity Weight Concern, Dr Ian Campbell, said: “If there is something about subcutaneous fat which is protective, and actually decreases insulin resistance, this could help open up a whole new debate on the precise role fat has on our metabolism.”

Source

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!