Exercise
Exercise and weight loss ..?
3. Lose Weight by Getting Off Your Duff --Literally!
People may be overweight simply because they sit too
much, according to scientists at the University of
Missouri. They found that exercise alone isn't enough to
take off extra pounds -- they discovered that the enzymes
in our body responsible for burning fat simply shut down
when we sit down.
The scientists said the discovery goes far beyond the
assumption that people who sit for hours on end in front
of the TV or computer are less active and thus prone to
gain weight. They said the simple act of sitting on our
cans for long periods harms the body in ways which have
not been well understood.
"It was hard to believe at first," said research team
leader Marc Hamilton, associate professor of biomedical
sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia. When
the team began investigating what happens to fat when we
sit for extended periods, they really didn't expect to
find much, and certainly didn't expect to find anything
that turned out to be "huge."
Lipoic acid got Weight
Loss
In order to avoid the harm caused by sitting for long
periods, Hamilton said everyone should stand up and "putter." While
he doesn't suggest people quit exercising, he says exercise alone
isn't enough. He says we need to be ever mindful of what we're doing
when we aren't engaged in exercise, because the ability of the body
to get rid of fat stops whenever we stop and sit down.
The
researchers injected lab animals with radioactive tracers to follow
the fat and find out what happened to it when the animals sat. They
found that a fat-splitting enzyme called lipase is suppressed after
the animals sat for several hours, and that the fat was transported
to adipose tissue, which is connective tissue where fat globules are
stored. In other words, the fat was put in a place where it could
not easily be burned. Tests with humans showed essentially the same
thing: fat was retained; HDL cholesterol, the "good" kind, was
lowered; and the overall rate of metabolism was reduced.
65