As a fitness trainer who is also a registered nurse, I get very excited when I come across scientific information that tells us something new about how exercise improves our health. I love sharing this information with my clients and now you, my Total Health Breakthroughs readers because it is very motivational and it re-affirms the time and effort we put into exercise.

Recently, Dr. Jim LaValle with whom I work at the LaValle Metabolic Institute forwarded to me just such a piece of information — a study that better explains how exercise helps us shed belly fat. Since over 75% of my clientele are baby boomers, and many of them struggle to get rid of belly fat, I knew this would be interesting.

In the past, we thought exercise helped us get rid of belly fat simply as a result of the increased calories burned. Since then, several studies have shown that exercise actually helps improve insulin resistance. We thought this may be because of the increase in muscle mass. Muscle needs glucose as a source of fuel, and by increasing our muscle mass, we are helping to lower the blood glucose level, thus reducing the constant output of insulin.

However, this new study shows that there is something else involved — exercise helps us shed belly fat because it increases the production of adiponectin.¹

Adiponectin is a hormone produced in fat cells that increases the effectiveness of insulin. Studies show when we have plenty of adiponectin, not only is our insulin production lower, our blood sugar is better controlled, and that decreases our risk of diabetes and heart disease. Furthermore, people who have plenty of adiponectin generally have better controlled weight. So, you would think that since adiponectin is produced in fat cells, as you gain weight, more adiponectin would be made, and we would have no problems.

However, when we gain weight, adiponectin production goes down. Weight that is gained in the belly, as opposed to weight gained more in the hips and thighs, is the weight that dramatically reduces adiponectin production. So, as you gain weight and adiponectin production drops, your weight just gets worse.

But now we know that a way to get that adiponectin back up is through exercise! In the study, brisk walking mixed with light jogging 4-5 days per week for 40 minutes per session increased adiponectin in adult overweight males. Adiponectin levels rose 260% after two to three bouts of exercise despite unchanged body weight, and even remained elevated after 10 weeks.

This study used brisk walking alternated with light jogging, but any moderate aerobic exercise should have similar effects. After the initial increase in adiponectin, no further increases in insulin sensitivity or fat oxidation were correlated with adiponectin, but the authors of the study think that the adiponectin may be jump-starting another as yet unknown mechanism by which exercise improves insulin sensitivity and weight loss.

If you need to lose belly fat or even if you don’t, but want to prevent it, you now know an interesting hormone by the name of adiponectin that can help via exercise. One more reason to keep moving!

References

1. Kriketos, A. et al. Diabetes Care, 2004, 27:629-630.

[Ed. Note: Melissa Hawthorne, RN, BSN, CSCS is the owner of Priority Fitness Personal Training and Wellness. She is a Master Trainer for the Resist-a-ball Company, ISCA Personal Training, Kick-boxing, and Beamfit. Melissa serves as a fitness consultant for the LaValle Metabolic Institute. To learn more, click here.]

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