Researchers say improving diet and physical activity helps limit the buildup of riskier visceral fat.
Diet and exercise combined could help curb the risk of metabolic diseases by reducing the amount of harmful fat that is stored around the organs, new research shows.
While it’s well-known that adopting a healthy lifestyle can help people lose weight, scientists are increasingly learning that where people store fat on their bodies matters for their health.
Subcutaneous fat, for example, is the pinchable fat right under the skin. But visceral fat – the dense, hidden fat found around the organs in the abdomen – is believed to be more dangerous. It is linked to a higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
“When people talk about changes in body weight, they often refer to a single number on the scale. But not all weight loss or gain is the same,” said Dr Shayan Aryannezhad, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at the University of Oxford.
“We found that combining a better diet with more physical activity is an effective way to improve not just weight, but how much and where fat is stored in the body,” he added in a statement.
For the study, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, researchers tracked more than 7,200 middle-aged adults in the United Kingdom over seven years on average.
They found that people who ate healthier or exercised more saw slower weight gain – with both subcutaneous and visceral fat – and had a lower risk of fatty liver disease than those who did not change their lifestyles. People who both exercised and ate healthy fared even better.
On average, people who ate well and exercised gained 1.9 kilograms less total body fat and 150 grams less visceral fat than people with less healthy lifestyles – equivalent to about 7 per cent of total body fat and 16 per cent of visceral fat.
The links between diet and exercise and visceral fat were still significant after the researchers took body mass index (BMI) – a common obesity indicator – into account. They said that indicates visceral fat is the first to go when people adopt healthier lifestyles.
Dr Nita Forouhi, one of the study’s authors and a professor of population health and nutrition at the University of Cambridge, said the findings suggest that improving diet and exercise in midlife can not only help with weight loss, but may also lower the risk of metabolic diseases and promote healthier ageing.
“Despite the challenges of living in environments that promote unhealthy eating and inactivity, there is benefit from making small, sustained changes that lead to both healthier diets and increased energy expenditure,” Forouhi said.
