Type II women can't rely on diet alone: Exercise a MUST for losing belly fat
Exercise a Must for Losing Deep Belly Fat
Diabetic women can't rely on diet alone, study shows
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
March 4, 2005 -- When a woman with type 2 diabetes wants to lose her belly, exercise is her best friend.
Even if she diets perfectly, eating all the right foods in ideal amounts, her waistline may not budge unless she works out. Exercise is required to lose excess fat deep in the abdomen, says a new study.
Why is it so important to lose abdominal fat? Researchers have shown that having even a little extra fat in the wrong places can increase the chances of developing disease. Fat deep in the abdomen, called visceral fat, poses a greater health risk than fat on other parts of the body, such as the hips.
Exercise has already been shown to help obese people without diabetes lose visceral fat. Now, the verdict is in for overweight diabetic women: Get moving to get rid of this dangerous fat.
Fat metabolism is altered in women with type 2 diabetes, write the researchers. That's why they focused their study on the effects of exercise in obese women with type 2 diabetes.
Focusing on Food and Fitness
Thirty-three obese, postmenopausal women participated. On average, they were about 57 years old and had had diabetes for at least one year.
The women were in for a major change when they enrolled in the 14-week study. None had dieted or exercised regularly in a year.
The women were divided into three groups. Some women were given a low-calorie diet high in healthy monounsaturated fats like olive oil.
The dieting women also got nutritional consultation, a week's worth of menu ideas, and a weekly meeting for motivation and support.
Another group was given a supervised aerobic exercise program consisting of walking 50 minutes three times a week, occasionally doing other activities for variety. The third group followed both programs.
Before and after the study the women got MRI scans to see how much visceral fat they had.
Diet alone did not reduce visceral fat. Only exercise alone or exercise plus dieting reduced visceral fat.
The researchers say their study demonstrates the importance of exercise in reducing visceral fat in the treatment of women with type 2 diabetes.
The study appears in the March issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
SOURCES: Giannopoulou, I. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, March 2005; vol 90: pp 1511-1518. WebMD Feature: "Diabetes Origin: Free Fatty Acids?"
I like studies that encourage both together - I found results weren't forthcoming until I got serious about both diet and exercise.
__________________ Christy
33 yrs, 1 precious hubby, 2 miracle kids, At Goal Wt for 4 yrs, Trygly's down 445 pts, Free Androgen down from 20 to 2, 3 half 'thons ran, 2 mtns hiked, 1 crazy run in the Rockies, 4 forest trail races, profiled in 2 magazines...1 woman determined to kick PCOS butt!
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Same here Christy, I didn't lose a thing until I started working out. I have to exercise like a mad woman in addition to a super healthy diet to lose moderately. I guess now I'm more willing to do both whereas years past I just did one or the other and gave up due to lack of results.
Interesting article Kat!
__________________ ~~~Vanessa~~~
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Good article, Kat. It gives me hope, especially since the study was done with women in their 50's! I automatically assumed that the results would only work for younger women, but then I read the age of the participants! I found that I did indeed lose 10 inches off my belly when I was dieting AND exercising faithfully. I have fallen off the dieting bandwagon pretty bad, but doing well on exercising. Since I haven't been eating right, I've gained back about 4 or 5 inches on my tummy. However, I am convinced that the exercise is keeping me from gaining it all back. I am gearing up to eat healthier and combine that with exercise again and hopefully I can lose the "menopot" again.
Kathryn
__________________ I LOVE BICYCLING!
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Type II women can't rely on diet alone: Exercise a MUST for losing belly fat 
