Highlights
- Exercise plays an important role in reducing effects of a high fat diet
- Adolescents who exercise may be able to reduce the effects of obesity
- Bones have the capacity to retain the memory
Obesity is one of the biggest perpetrators of lifestyle diseases in today's world. It is known to trigger ailments like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Eating a balanced diet and engaging in regular physical activity have long been linked to promoting good health and cutting down risk of developing a host of lifestyle diseases. Experts believe that kids who engage in regular physical activity are more likely to stay immune to risk of developing cancer and obesity as compared to their counterparts who lead a sedentary lifestyle.
Exercise plays an important role in reducing some of the damaging effects of a high-fat diet such as obesity. According to a new study published in the Journal Frontiers in Physiology, adolescents who exercise regularly may be able to reduce the effects of obesity, heart disease and cancer. Their findings reveal that our bones have the capacity to retain the 'memory' and the energy generated even after you stop exercising. This bone memory continues to change the way your body digests a high-fat and high-calorie diet.
The study was carried out on rats wherein the team compared the bone health and metabolism of rats across different diets and exercise conditions, reducing messenger molecules that signal the activity of genes in the bone marrow. The results suggested that the rats with a high fat diet and an exercise wheel caused inflammation-linked genes to be turned down. "What was remarkable was that these changes lasted long after the rats stopped doing that extra exercise - into their mid-life," said Justin O'Sullivan, a molecular geneticist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. "The bone marrow carried a 'memory' of the effects of exercise. The rats still got fat, but that early extra exercise basically set them up so that even though they put on weight, they didn't have the same profile of negative effects that is common with a high fat diet," he added.
The study also emphasized on the fact that childhood and adolescence are periods of bone growth and development and therefore, exercising during this period might ensure healthy outcomes when in adulthood. "If you reach optimal bone mass early in life, you're less likely to suffer from broken bones or other bone-related problems as an adult," explained Elwyn Firth, Professor from the university's Liggins Institute. Furthermore, the study showed that exercise was found to change the way the rats' bones metabolized energy from food, changing energy pathways that disrupt the body's response to a high-calorie diet.
With Inputs from IANS