The Secret to Healthier Belly Fat

If you struggle with weight loss, you can still improve the composition of your belly fat through regular exercise.

Michelle Crouch,

AARP

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Published December 27, 2024

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Few things are as frustrating as committing to a workout routine and sticking with it, only to see the scale refuse to budge and your favorite pants not fitting.

But new research from the University of Michigan offers some encouraging news: Even if you don’t lose a lot of weight, regular exercise can still make your belly fat healthier.

The study, published in the journal Nature Metabolism in September 2024, compared two groups of adults with similar levels of obesity, but one group exercised four times a week for at least two years and the other did not.

Compared to the non-exercisers, those who were active had better belly fat composition, with more blood vessels and beneficial proteins, fewer inflammatory markers and less of a type of collagen linked to metabolic disorders such as Type 2 diabetes, according to the research.

The active group was also able to keep more of their fat stored under their skin as subcutaneous fat, keeping it away from vital organs like the liver, heart and pancreas, where it can lead to serious health problems.

Study author Jeffery Horowitz, a professor of movement science in the school of kinesiology at the University of Michigan, emphasizes that getting rid of excess belly fat through a healthy diet and exercise is still your best bet for longevity and good health.

But if you can’t seem to take off those extra pounds, then regular exercise seems to change the way fat behaves, making it less harmful and better for your overall health, Horowitz says.

“It’s somewhat counterintuitive because we think of fat as being the bad guy,” Horowitz says. He adds that although less fat is still better, you can still have healthier fat tissue.

The study builds on other research that shows that exercise reduces dangerous visceral fat in overweight and obese people, even when they don’t lose weight. Visceral fat, which lies deep within your abdomen and surrounds your organs, is linked to serious health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

How to make your fat tissue healthier

To transform your fat tissue, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity four days a week — similar to the active group in the study.

While those participants had been exercising for at least two years, Horowitz points out that his previous research identified changes in fat tissue after just 12 weeks of exercise.

The participants in Horowitz’s study did moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise, which could include cycling, swimming, dancing or brisk walking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends two strength training sessions each week.

If you’re overweight, it’s better to be fit

Making your fat healthier is just the latest proven benefit of exercise. We already know physical activity improves heart health, reduces stress, and can even slow cognitive decline. It’s also effective in preventing chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.

Melanie Jay, M.D., an obesity researcher at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, says the Michigan study is notable because it investigates how exercise impacts fat at the cellular level, offering clues as to why it’s so beneficial.

“We know that when people exercise, they have better metabolic profiles and they’re healthier,” she says. “This study gives us some of the mechanisms for that … it shows that the quality of your subcutaneous fat is really important because your capacity to store fatty acids in your subcutaneous tissue probably protects your organs.”

While losing excess body fat is the ideal goal, Jay notes that many of her patients become discouraged when they don’t see significant weight loss and stop exercising.

The takeaway from the study, she says, is: “If you're going to carry extra weight, it’s definitely better to be fit.”

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Michelle Crouch is a contributing writer who has covered health and personal finance for some of the nation’s top consumer publications. Her work has appeared in Reader’s Digest, Real Simple, Prevention, The Washington Post and The New York Times.