Exercise puts your fat to work for your metabolism, according to research

( Natural News ) An international study led by researchers from Harvard Medical School revealed how exercise boosts metabolism. The study, published in the journal Nature Metabolism , showed that exercise boosts metabolism and improves health by prompting fat to release molecules that regulate metabolism. These molecules are called transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-beta 2). TGF-beta 2 is an adipokine, a large group of signaling proteins that originate in fat cells. Adipokines play a role in regulating metabolic processes in fat tissue, as well as in the brain, liver, and other organs. They also play a role in immune system function. For the study, the researchers examined adipokines in humans and mice before and after exercise. They observed that TGF-beta 2 levels increased after exercise and that they increased not only in fat tissue but also in the blood. They also learned that treating mice with TGF-beta 2 caused metabolic changes, such as increasing fatty acid uptake and improving glucose tolerance. In another part of the study, the researchers induced obesity in mice by feeding them a high-fat diet. Then, they treated obese mice with TGF-beta 2. They found that the protein exhibited the same effect as exercise; it reversed the adverse effects of a high-fat diet on metabolism. In the last part of the study, they gave TGF-beta 2 to mice with Type 2 diabetes caused by a high-fat diet. They found that the protein caused a similar effect to that of exercise and reversed the negative effect of the diet on metabolism. Additionally, the researchers discovered that lactic acid also plays an important role in the process through which exercise-induced TGF-beta 2 affects metabolism. During exercise, the muscles release lactic acid . The acid then goes to fat tissue and stimulates fat cells to release TGF-beta 2. […]

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