Well-functioning fat may be the key to fewer old-age ailments

Date:
February 17, 2022
Source:
University of Copenhagen - Faculty of Science
Summary:
Fat tissue plays an important role in human health. However,
our fat tissue loses function as we age, which can lead to type
2 diabetes, obesity, cancer and other ailments. High levels of
lifelong exercise seem to counteract this deterioration.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Fat tissue plays an important role in human health. However, our fat
tissue loses function as we age, which can lead to type 2 diabetes,
obesity, cancer and other ailments. High levels of lifelong exercise
seem to counteract this deterioration. This, according to research at
the University of Copenhagen, where biologists studied the link between
aging, exercise and fat tissue function in Danish men.


==========================================================================
How well does your fat function? It isn't a question that one gets
asked very often. Nonetheless, research in recent years suggests that
the function of our fat tissue, or adipose tissue, is central to why our
bodies decay with age, and strongly linked to human diseases like diabetes
2, cancer as obesity often develop and fat cells undergo functional
changes as we get older. Thus, overall health is not just influenced by
the amount of fat we bear, but about how well our fat tissue functions.

A new University of Copenhagen study demonstrates that even though our
fatty tissue loses important function with age, a high volume of exercise
can have a significant impact for the better.

"Overall health is closely linked with how well our fat tissue
functions. In the past, we regarded fat as an energy depot. In fact, fat
is an organ that interacts with other organs and can optimize metabolic function. Among other things, fat tissue releases substances that affect
muscle and brain metabolism when we feel hungry and much more. So, it's important that fat tissue works the way it should," explains Assistant Professor Anders Gudiksen of the University of Copenhagen's Department
of Biology.

Fat cell function worsens with age Gudiksen and a group of colleagues
looked at the role of age and physical training in maintaining fat
tissue function. Specifically, they studied mitochondria, the tiny power
plants within fat cells. Mitochondria convert calories from food to
supply cells with energy. To maintain the life processes within cells,
they need to function optimally.



==========================================================================
The researchers compared mitochondrial performance across a range of
young and older untrained, moderately trained and highly exercise trained Danish men. The results demonstrate that the ability of mitochondria to
respire -- i.e., produce energy -- decreases with age, regardless of how
much a person exercises. However, Anders Gudiksen explains: "Although mitochondrial function decreases with age, we can see that a high level
of lifelong exercise exerts a powerful compensatory effect. In the group
of well-trained older men, fat cells are able to respire more than twice
as much as in untrained older men." More training means less waste in
cells Just as a car engine produces waste when converting chemical to
usable energy, so do mitochondria. Mitochondrial waste comes in the form
of oxygen free radicals, known as ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species). ROS that
isn't eliminated damages cells and the current theory is that elevated
ROS can lead to a wide range of diseases including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's. Therefore, the regulation of
ROS is important.

"The group of older people who train most form less ROS and maintain functionality to eliminate it. Indeed, their mitochondria are
better at managing waste produced in fat cells, which results in less
damage. Therefore, exercise has a large effect on maintaining the health
of fat tissue, and thereby probably keeping certain diseases at bay as
well," says Gudiksen.

The researchers can also see that the older participants who exercised
most throughout life have more mitochondria, allowing for more respiration
and, among other things, an ability to release more of the fat-related
hormones important for the body's energy balance.

'Our results show that you can actually train your fat tissue to a very
high degree -- but that you needn't cycle 200km a week to achieve a
positive effect.

What you shouldn't do, is do nothing at all," concludes Anders Gudiksen,
who hopes that the research world will focus more on what people can do
to maintain the health of their fatty tissue.

The next step for the UCPH researchers will be to investigate where
exactly cellular damage occurs when people don't exercise and what
impact this has on the body as a whole over time. Concurrently, the
researchers are exploring ways to pharmacologically manipulate the
mechanism in the mitochondria that converts calories into heat instead
of depositing calories as fat, in turn lowering the production of the
harmful oxygen radicals.

ABOUT THE STUDY
* Study subjects were 20-32-year-old untrained men and 62-73-year-old
men,
who throughout their lives were either untrained, moderately
trained or highly trained. All men were healthy, unmedicated and
had a BMI below 30.

* The researchers suggest that the study estimates are conservative
as the
participants are unlikely to represent the population as a
whole, where a higher proportion of people are probably in poorer
physical shape and suffer from health problems than the participants
recruited. None of the study's older participants took prescription
medication, whereas a large proportion of the population in this
age group otherwise does.

special promotion Get a free digital "Metabolism Myths"
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always get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Copenhagen_-_Faculty_of_Science. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anders Gudiksen, Albina Qoqaj, Stine Ringholm, Jo/rgen Wojtaszewski,
Peter Plomgaard, Henriette Pilegaard. Ameliorating Effects of
Lifelong Physical Activity on Healthy Aging and Mitochondrial
Function in Human White Adipose Tissue. The Journals of Gerontology:
Series A, 2021; DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glab356 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220217141344.htm

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