Have you ever heard a man complaining that he’s packing on the pounds around his hips and thighs? You probably haven’t, as this is where women tend to store body fat, whereas men tend to store it in the abdominal area. However, if you’re thinking, ‘who cares? Fat’s still fat’ you’d be wrong, as researchers have discovered that the location of your fat actually affects your wellbeing, and it might be better to shift it to another area rather than attempting to banish it for good.
According to Steven Smith, MD, director of the Florida Hospital – Sanford-Burnham Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes, scientists are still unclear why men and women store fat in different areas, but the effect it has on your wellness is definitely worth further investigation, as belly fat is more likely to lead to diabetes and heart disease, whereas fat in your hips and thighs doesn’t seem to play a particular part in these health risks.
For the study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Smith and his team took fat samples from both genders, comparing the most active genes in belly fat with those in thigh fat. They found that there’s a huge difference between the gene operations in these types of fat. 125 genes are expressed differently in men’s body fat than in their thighs, whilst 218 genes do so for women (59 of which overlap with the male variants). A gene group difference worthy of noting was the homeobox genes, which are known to determine which cells and organs go where in an embryo, and many are influenced by oestrogen.
Smith says, ‘We believe these genes actually program those fat cells to respond differently to different hormones and other signals’. The team found that cells are pre-programmed, meaning that during development, belly fat and thigh fat are genetically destined for their final location during development. Smith urged, ‘Even though many women hate having large hips and thighs, that pear shape actually reduces their risk of heart disease and diabetes. In fact, women who have heart attacks tend to have more belly fat than thigh fat.’
He concluded that ‘Belly fat is just a marker of the problem. The real issue is in inability to store that fat on the hips and thighs’, and the team hopes to develop specific treatments aimed at these dangerous fat regions.
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