SCIENTISTS have revealed a simple trick to get your body to burn saturated fat for fuel rather than storing it.
It can be hard to resist bacon, sausages, sweets and biscuits.
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While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying them once in a while as a treat, eating them too often can harm your health – raising blood cholesterol levels and increasing your risk of heart disease.
Whether you burn or store fat depends on how active you are, according to new search from the University of Aberdeen.
They found that exercising consistently for just five hours a week is enough to change the way your body handles saturated fats, encouraging you to use them as fuel.
The study, published in Nature Communicationslooked at how different types of fat are used by the body depending on how physically fit you are.
Researchers examined how fat was metabolized in “super healthy” male athletes and in men with type 2 diabetes who did little or no exercise.
They found that the athletes had large amounts of saturated fat in their muscles, which they used to fuel their athletic performance.
Meanwhile, diabetics had more unsaturated fat in their muscles and the body’s ability to burn fat during energy was ‘blunted’.
The team, led by Professor Dana Dawson, also discovered that in athletes, saturated fat is used intensively for physical activities as the “preferred source of energy”.
The researchers asked each group to switch exercise regimens for three weeks.
The athletes underwent “deconditioning,” where they went from exercising vigorously for at least nine and a half hours a week to no exercise at all.
Patients with type 2 diabetes underwent resistance training, where they exercised five hours a week.
Before and after the lifestyle change, volunteers received small amounts of different fats through an intravenous injection and underwent MRI scans to see how the fat behaved inside muscle cells.
The results showed that the group with type 2 diabetes lost weight, improved insulin sensitivity and reduced cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting blood glucose levels.
Lead author Professor Dana Dawson said: “We found that athletes intensively store and utilize saturated fat for high-performance physical activity and, conversely, in people with type 2 diabetes, we predominantly observed storage.
“We also showed in people with type 2 diabetes that physical resistance training increased the storage and utilization of saturated fat in skeletal muscle cells to the extent that they became similar to deconditioned athletes after 8 weeks of training.
“Overall, the most impressive and completely new perspective we take away from this study is that one size ‘does not fit all’ and that a person’s cardiometabolic health determines how efficiently you are able to use different fats for fuel.
“These results are completely new and highlight how staying fit and active improves saturated fat metabolism as a direct benefit of exercise.”
Professor Bryan Williams, scientific and medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This small study reinforces the benefits to stay active in heart health.
“Although the study compared two very specific groups – male athletes and men with type 2 diabetes – the results offer reassurance that being physically active can improve how the body uses different types of fat.
“It is important to highlight that the study did not assess the impact of fat consumption, and existing advice continues to be to try to replace saturated fat in the diet with unsaturated fat.
“Daily physical activity can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting blood sugar levels, as well as helping you maintain a healthy weight.”
Professor Williams gave some advice on how to incorporate exercise into your routine if you’re not used to it.
“When it comes to being active, it’s important to establish a routine that you enjoy and can stick to.
“Try to get up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling.”
How to lose weight safely
Losing weight should be a long-term commitment to healthier living rather than any drastic measures.
Tips from the NHS – which can be adopted slowly – include:
- Stay active for 150 minutes a week – you can break this up into shorter sessions
- Aim to get 5 a day – 80g of fresh, tinned or frozen fruit or vegetables counts as 1 serving
- Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds, or 0.5 to 1 kg, per week
- Read food labels – products that are color coded greener than amber and red are often a healthier option
- Swap sugary drinks for water – if you don’t like the taste, add lemon or lime slices for flavor
- Reduce your consumption of foods high in sugar and fat – start by swapping sugary cereals for whole-grain alternatives
- Share your weight loss plan with someone you trust – they can help motivate you when you have a bad day
Read about:
- The five bases for fat loss
- The calorie formula for weight loss
- The Perfect Portion Sizes for Weight Loss Meals
- Sun Health 8-Week Weight Loss Starter Plan
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
