Here's how exercise is your best defense against abdominal fat!

Researchers know that the type of fat you can measure with tape is not the most dangerous, but the most effective way to fight internal visceral fat that you can not see or feel. It turns out that exercise is your best friend for fighting deep abdominal fat.

The results of the study were published in the journal "Mayo Clinic Proceedings".

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have badyzed two types of interventions – lifestyle modification (exercise) and pharmacology (medicine) – to determine the best way to destroy fat located deep within the belly.

"Visceral fat can affect local organs or the entire body system.It can also affect the heart and liver, as well as the abdominal organs.When studies use weight or body mbad index as a measure, we do not know if interventions reduce fats anywhere in the body, or just on the surface, "said Dr. Ian J. Neeland, author and cardiologist.

To find out, researchers evaluated changes in visceral fat in 3,602 participants over a 6-month period, as measured by CT or MRI. Exercise and medications resulted in a reduction in visceral fat, but the reductions were greater per pound of body weight lost with exercise.

"The location and type of fat is important.If you only measure weight or BMI, you can underestimate the health benefits of losing weight." Exercise can actually to melt visceral fat, "said Dr. Neeland.

Exercise participants were 65% female, with a mean age of 54 years and an average BMI at age 31. Exercise regimes were monitored and not self-reported. The majority of exercise trials were conducted in the United States and Canada, while pharmacological trials included the United States, Canada, Sweden, Japan, and four multinational cohorts.

Drugs used by study participants were approved by the FDA or pending FDA approval.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity affects nearly 40% of the world's population.

Dr. Neeland said researchers had previously considered fat as inert storage, but over the years, this vision has evolved and fat is now considered an active organ.

"Some obese people get heart disease, diabetes, or metabolic syndrome – and others do not, our study suggests that a combination of approaches can help reduce visceral fat and potentially prevent these." diseases, "added Dr. Neeland.