Exercise attacks bad effects of belly fat

URBANA, Ill., April 24 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say moderate exercise reduces inflammation linked to metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors predicting heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The syndrome has been linked to inflammation found in visceral fat -- better known as belly fat.

"In the study, the benefits of exercise were apparent, even without a change in diet. We saw improvements in insulin sensitivity, less fat in the liver, and less inflammation in belly fat," study researcher Jeffrey Woods of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said in a statement.

The researchers assigned mice to either a sedentary group, an exercise group, a low-fat diet group, or a group that combined a low-fat diet with exercise for six or 12 weeks.

Combining diet and exercise didn't yield dramatically different and better results than diet or exercise alone. The only significant increase from six to 12 weeks in belly fat was in the sedentary mice. Woods said this is a promising finding.

"The benefits of exercise were apparent even if the animals were still eating a high-fat diet," Woods said. "That tells me that exercise could decrease or prevent these life-threatening diseases by reducing inflammation even when obesity is still present."

The findings are published in the American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism.