Big bottoms are good for your health, says study

Having a fat bottom could be better for your health, new research suggests.

In news that will come as a huge relief to millions of women (and men) around the world, it seems a certain type of fat that is particularly prevalent around the buttocks can cut the risk of type 2 diabetes.

It’s called ’subcutaneous’ fat – and scientists believe it can actually aid weight loss and regulate your blood sugar levels. How does it do that? Well, it produces adipokines, hormones which can boost your metabolism.

So is this a bum steer? OK, so the bad news is their theories are based purely on experiments done on mice.
The test involved moving the ’subcutaneous’ fat to the rodents’ stomachs. It resulted in a decrease in body weight, fat mass and blood sugar levels. By contrast, moving the fat to other parts of the body did not have any effect.

Now, of course, people are very different to mice.

However, it certainly means we may be forced to rethink how we view fat. Lead researcher, Prof Ronald Khan, certainly thinks so.

He said: “The surprising thing was that it wasn’t where the fat was located, it was the kind of fat that was the most important variable.

“Even more surprising, it wasn’t that abdominal fat was exerting negative effects, but the subcutaneous fat was producing a good effect.”

As does medical director of the charity Weight Concern, Dr Ian Campbell.

He added: “If there is something about subcutaneous fat which is protective, and actually decreases insulin resistance, this should help open up a whole new debate on the precise role fat has on our metabolism.”

Source: Marie Claire