Study reveals that some belly fat may be beneficial… Here are the details
Visceral fat, that is, fat accumulated around the abdomen and internal organs, has long been considered one of the most dangerous types of fat for human health, due to its association with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer.
However, a recent scientific study has partially overturned this stereotype, revealing that some types of abdominal fat may play an unexpected defensive role in combating inflammation and infection, according to a report published by the British newspaper ” The Independent “.
A scientific surprise about belly fat
The study, conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, revealed that abdominal fat is not a homogeneous mass as previously thought, but rather consists of several different types, each with its own characteristics and functions.
In this context, Jiao Zhong, the lead author of the study, said: “Adipose tissue not only stores energy, but also acts as an active organ that sends signals that affect the entire body.”
In the research published in the journal “Cell Metabolism,” scientists analyzed samples of five different types of abdominal fat in eight obese individuals, including subcutaneous fat, fat around the stomach, and fat near the intestines.
The results showed clear differences between these types of fat, most notably what is known as “pericolonic adipose tissue,” which was found to contain an unusually large number of inflammatory fat cells and immune cells, compared to the rest of the abdominal fat types.
Laboratory experiments indicated that bacterial signals can stimulate these fat cells to produce proteins that activate immune cells within the tissue, helping to fight infection.
The researchers believe that these results indicate that the fatty tissue near the intestines has a unique function, which may be a biological adaptation to the gut microbiome, i.e., the ecosystem of microbes that live inside the intestines.
However, since the study was conducted on obese individuals, the researchers emphasize that it is too early to determine whether these results also apply to people of normal weight.
