Health conditions like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease continue to be more widespread. The interesting thing about these conditions is they never seem to respect the health condition of the persons they afflict. We all know someone who exercised, ate right, and maintained a healthy weight, but still got cancer or had a heart attack. Sometimes, no matter what we do, the cards are stacked against us.

Then there are obese people who never get cancer or diabetes, and they aren’t on medication for anything. That just doesn’t make sense. Obesity has a direct link to the development of health conditions like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Second only to smoking, being overweight is the most significant factor that accelerates aging and negatively impacts your health.

In spite of that, there are people with a BMI over 30 (obese) who are considered “metabolically healthy”; they’re not insulin resistant, they have normal blood glucose levels, normal blood lipids, no high blood pressure, and superior cardiorespiratory fitness. These “metabolically healthy obese” people have a lower risk for chronic diseases compared to unhealthy obese people, and they take few to no medications.

I’m not saying obese people shouldn’t lose weight. Obesity is still a strong predictor of disease risk. But what I am saying—being obese doesn’t necessarily make someone unhealthy.

Fat is more dynamic than we think

Consuming a healthy diet and exercising can actually change the composition of fat tissue on a cellular level, making it healthier, even in the absence of weight loss. Healthier fat tissue may be more metabolically active and produce fewer inflammatory cytokines.

Another characteristic of healthy fat tissue is that it has a greater capacity to store lipids and fatty acids. Some metabolic disorders make it more difficult for our bodies to store lipids. Instead of getting stored in our fat cells, lipids end up circulating throughout the body where they can accumulate around organs and muscles, causing insulin resistance and inflammation. If there were a way to increase the lipid storage capacity of our fat cells, it could have a major impact on our metabolic health.

How can exercise effect fat?

We know exercise has a modest effect on weight loss. We also know exercise combined with proper nutrition can have a greater lasting effect on weight loss. Additionally, we know that even if you don’t lose any weight, exercise can make you healthier by improving risk factors like blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood lipids. But there’s possibly more . . .

A study published a couple of months ago in Nature Metabolism found that obese people who exercise regularly experience distinct structural and biological changes in their adipose tissue. The study looked at 32 obese adults, 16 of them had exercised regularly for two years and 16 of them did not exercise at all. Participants in both groups had the same BMI and the same percentage of body fat.

The regular exercisers had a 25% higher VO₂ max, an indication of cardiovascular capacity. They also had better insulin sensitivity. But, more surprisingly, they had healthier fat.

• The exercised fat cells were denser with capillaries, which allow more oxygen and nutrient delivery to their tissues.
• They had greater lipid storage capacity.
• They had more mitochondria, which means they are more metabolically active.
• They had a greater capacity for making proteins that allowed them to adapt to stresses like heat, cold, fasting, and exercise.

Exercise is more important than we think

The obese exercisers in this study were healthier. They had lower levels of insulin and glucose, better insulin resistance, and higher HDL cholesterol.

This study also revealed that healthy fat can store more fatty acids, which keeps the acids from being stored around the heart, liver, and skeletal muscles as triglycerides. This extra fat storage capacity also reduces inflammation caused by circulating lipids, which improves metabolic health.

If you’re exercising because you’re trying to lose weight, you’re getting more benefits from your efforts than you think: your exercise efforts both eliminate fat AND make the fat that remains healthier fat.

If you’re not trying to lose weight, exercise is making your fat healthier and improving your metabolic health with every repetition.

And if you’ve recently gained weight for some unexpected reason, like aging, stress, or the holidays, staying physically active is important for keeping you healthy despite your weight.

Exercise has so many benefits that go far beyond weight loss. Make it a habit you don’t miss no matter your weight.

Stay Strong!

Bo Railey