Curvy women will live longer
JENNIFER Lopez, Nigella Lawson and Beyonce as well as other curvy women are in great shape to live longer thanks to their well-rounded figures, according to new research.
Scientists have found that having a big bottom and thighs could help prevent metabolic disorders like heart disease, strokes and diabetes.
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Key to the finding is that fat apparently grows differently in the upper and lower parts of the adult body, rather than remaining stable in both areas.
Almost 30 men and women in the study were encouraged to gorge on ice-cream, chocolate, sugary drinks and other highly fattening food for eight weeks.
Researchers measured body fat and fat cell size before and after the unhealthy diet regime. They found that on average the participants put on 5.5lb (2.5 kilos) of upper body fat and 3.3lb (1.5 kilos) of lower body fat.
But there was a striking difference in that fat cells around the stomach and heart grew in size – but not number – by producing more fat synthesising proteins.
The reverse was true for thigh fat cells in the lower part of the body which increased in number, but did not get bigger. Dr Michael Jensen, research leader at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the findings challenge the concept that the number of fat cells doesn’t vary between the upper and lower body.
It also supports the idea that increased capacity to produce lower-body fat cells creates some form of protection to the upper body and potentially helps to prevent serious metabolic diseases.
Dr Jensen, whose study is published in US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said: “The cellular mechanisms are different. The accumulation of abdominal fat happens largely by individual cells expanding in size – while with fat gain in the femoral or lower body it is the number of fat cells that increases. So, different mechanism, different impact.”
In future, drugs that alter the way fat is stored around the body could be used to combat diseases.
Meanwhile, the bottom line is Miss Lopez, 41, and kitchen queen Nigella, 50, are sitting pretty. And the findings could also help to explain the apparent medical benefits of having a pear-shaped body.
They tie in with studies showing the ratio of a person’s waist to hips is a better predictor of heart disease than Body Mass Index, or weight in relation to height.
