Exercise Decreases Insulin Resistance
Reported September 30, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A little exercise can go a long way in overweight patients who are insulin sensitive.
Complications from obesity, such as diabetes, are associated with an abnormal fat metabolism in the muscle. This causes the accumulated fat by-products inside the muscle to impact insulin resistance. To avoid the build up of fat by-products, fat must be oxidized or burned, as in exercise, or stored in muscle.
Researchers from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, looked at the effect of exercise on fat accumulation in five obese women. In one session the women overate and did not exercise; in another session they overate and did exercise.
The study found one day of overeating reduced the bodys fat-burning oxidation rate, but just one session of exercise increased that rate.
The findings indicate even one bout of exercise helps to reduce the fat by-products inside the muscle, which affects insulin sensitivity. The results also suggest a single session of exercise steers muscle fat towards oxidation, which then keeps fat by-products from accumulating.
Exercise decreases everyones insulin resistance and therefore reduces the chances of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes, researcher Andrea Cornford, University of Michigan, was quoted as saying. This study shows that even a single bout of exercise helps obese individuals increase their bodys fat-burning rate and improve their metabolic health.
SOURCE: American Physiological Society Conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina, September 24-27, 2008