Are you trying to burn belly fat? Intermittent fasting may hinder progress, study finds



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Want to get rid of unwanted belly fat? If your diet involves intermittent fasting – refraining from eating for several hours at a time – it may hamper your progress in losing fat around that area of ​​the body, new study results suggest.

In the study conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia and published earlier this week in the journal Cell Reports, researchers found that visceral belly fat – the fatty tissue surrounding organs, including the stomach – is particularly resistant to the release of energy during intermittent fasting. . In other words, this type of fat goes into “conservation mode” to protect its energy for the next fasting period, which perhaps makes it harder to destroy unwanted belly fat.

For the study, conducted with mice, the researchers “looked at types of fatty tissue from different locations to understand their role during the alternate-day fast, where no food was eaten every other day,” according to one. press release on the results.

They found that two types of fat, visceral, the type mentioned above, as well as subcutaneous fat, which is found just under the skin and is associated with better metabolic health, “undergo dramatic changes during fasting. intermittent, ”Dr. Larance, lead author of the study, said in a statement.

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During a fast, adipose tissue acts as a source of energy for the body by releasing molecules of fatty acids. In the study, however, researchers found that the visceral becomes resistant to this release of energy during periods of fasting, suggesting that visceral fat “can adapt to repeated periods of fasting and protect its energy reserve. energy, ”Larance said.

“This type of adaptation may be the reason why visceral fat may be resistant to weight loss after long periods of dieting,” he added.

Mice were used in the study because their physiology is similar to that of humans. However, their metabolism is much faster, which made it easier for researchers to observe the changes more quickly than if they had conducted a human trial.

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The researchers used specialized instruments to examine “more than 8,500 proteins located in fatty deposits, creating a catalog of changes that occurred during intermittent fasting, using a technique called proteomics,” or the study of all proteins, according to the version, which adds: “It was through proteomics that the research team was alerted to the major cellular changes caused by intermittent fasting and, after further analysis, demonstrated the mechanism of visceral fat preservation. in action. “

Importantly, the study focused on two-day fasting, with Larance warning that the results “may not apply to different diets such as the 5: 2 diet (2-day out of 7 fasting). or calorie restriction, which is common in people who want to lose weight. “

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That said, “the results lay the groundwork for future studies, which will dissect the molecules responsible for visceral fat’s resistance to energy release during fasting, and help determine which diets would be most beneficial for health. metabolic.”

“Now that we have shown that ‘belly fat’ in mice is resistant to this diet, the big question will be why and how to best cope with it?” Larance asked, noting that more studies on this topic are needed.

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