New research suggests people who store fat in their thighs and backside instead of their abdomens may have a boost in protection against heart disease, diabetes, and other weigh-related conditions.
"It is the protective role of lower body, that is [thigh and backside] fat, that is striking. The protective properties of the lower body fat depot have been confirmed in many studies conducted in subjects with a wide range of age, BMI and co-morbidities," the researchers wrote in the Journal Obesity, ABC News reported.
For years researchers have suggested apple-shaped people (those who carry their weight in the torso) are more at risk for certain conditions than those who are pear-shaped (carry weight in their lower body).
"If you're going to have fat, you're definitely better off if you've got some fat in the lower body," Doctor Michael Jensen, director of endocrine research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said. "If you look at people who have primarily the pear shape, they're healthy in all the ways that this fat behaves. It's not just less heart attacks or less diabetes, it's all these ways we think about fat as an important organ for our health."
Stomach fat is believed to be more harmful because it is "more metabolically active" and releases more cytokines (which are linked to insulin resistance and diabetes) than lower body fat, ABC reported.
"There's a whole range of these hormonal markers that seem to be more preferentially released from the belly," Kushner said.
The researchers are not sure if those with fat storage in the lower body are more or less at risk for these conditions than individuals who are thin.
"If you're a healthy thin weight, you're going to be every bit as healthy as someone who has weight, but has all the weight in the lower body," Jensen said.
Some researchers don't agree that lower body fat could boost certain facets of health.
"I think that the article makes a fairly compelling point that there are likely differences between these two fat stores," Floyd Chilton, a professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said. "But I think it certainly falls short in making a convincing argument that one is protective and the other is the major source of the problem."
