Belly fat

Excess abdominal fat is associated with widespread chronic pain, particularly in women, according to a study published in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.

Reducing excess fat deposits in the abdomen could help reduce chronic musculoskeletal pain, suggest the researchers who used the data of 32,409 individuals from the UK Biobank. Around half of the participants were women with an average age of 55 and the data included MRI scans of the abdomens of the participants to measure the amount of fat stored around the abdominal organs.

Another recent study from the U-M School of Kinesiology found that long term exercisers have healthier belly fat. The research team grew fat tissue in the lab from cells collected from both exercisers and non-exercisers and found that the cells from the exercisers developed into a tissue that stored fat more effectively. They found that the exercisers had structural and biological characteristics in their fat tissue and that exercisers had more blood vessels and mitochondria, with less of a type of collagen that can interfere with metabolism and also fewer cells that cause inflammation.