Too many kilos are generally stamped as unhealthy. It is now known that especially stubborn belly fat (visceral fat) can be harmful to health. Excess bacon on the thighs and hips can even have a positive impact on health and prevent metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, for example. This has resulted in a new meta-analysis.
Summary of previous results
As the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) states, hip and thigh fat can offer protection against heart attacks, vascular damage, heart failure and type 2 diabetes. Prof. Norbert Stefan from the University Hospital in Tübingen and the Institute for Diabetes Research at the Helmholtz Zentrum München has summarized the scientific evidence for this in an article. This was published in the English language journal “Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology”.
Belly fat threatens health
Overweight and obesity are associated with numerous diseases. They are largely responsible for the increasing number of diabetes patients and people with cardiovascular diseases worldwide. Fat accumulations in the abdominal region, also called visceral fat, have been shown to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular system. This has so far not been ascertained for the fat on the legs and hips.
Are “hip stores” at an advantage?
According to recent studies, the fat on your thighs could and hips even provide health benefits to the wearer. In a press release from the DZD, Prof. Stefan explains that recent results from studies in people with rare diseases such as lipodystrophy indicate that the inability to store fat in the lower body is of enormous importance for the prognosis of the development of metabolism and cardiovascular Diseases. With lipodystrophy, subcutaneous fatty tissue is hardly formed. Research on the genetic distribution of fat in the general population also suggests this finding.
Body fat measurement to determine the risk?
Data from large genetic studies also show that excessive leg fat can protect against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This probably happens regardless of the fat mass in the abdomen. This assumption is also confirmed by new results from a magnetic resonance imaging study from Tübingen.
Prof. Stefan also explains that the measurement of fat in the lower body can be informative in order to predict the risk of type 2 diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular system. In addition, he shows the mechanisms that are responsible for the fact that energy is stored in different parts of the body or incorrectly in organs such as the heart, liver or pancreas.
Change in fat distribution
According to the specialist, changes in the sex hormone level and their signaling can occur in old age. In the course of this, there is often a change in the fat distribution: The fat moves from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, there are certain genetic and lifestyle-related reasons for the metabolically beneficial or unfavorable fat distribution responsible. In the end, Prof. Stefan states how lifestyle interventions and others can help prevent or potentially even reverse unfavorable fat distribution. After all, the hip fat could actually be valuable for health.
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