Exercise Counteracts Compensatory Weight Gain After Liposuction

From bad to worse.

People who undergo abdominal liposuction may experience a compensatory increase in visceral fat, which in turn may raise their risk of developing cardiovascular disease, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. However, physical activity may prevent this compensatory weight gain, the researchers added.

Visceral fat

Visceral fat, also known as organ fat, abdominal fat or intra-abdominal fat lies deep inside the abdominal cavity, in between the organs, such as the kidneys, intestines, liver, stomach, etc. Visceral fat is different from fat under the skin (subcutaneous fat) or intramuscular fat which is interspersed in skeletal muscles. Fat in the buttocks or thighs is subcutaneous fat, while fat deep inside the abdomen is visceral. Excess visceral fat increases the risk of developing inflammatory diseases, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other obesity-related diseases and conditions.

Liposuction's long-term impact on health - nobody is sure

The authors explained that while liposuction has become one of the most common surgical procedures for improving people's looks, nobody really knows what its long-term impact is on health. Some studies have shown that liposuction can trigger metabolic changes in the patient's body making it regain fat - in other words, it takes fat out from one part of the body, and eventually the body adds fat to another part.

Fabiana Braga Benatti, PhD, and team set out to determine what the effects of liposuction might be on body fat distribution. They also investigated whether regular physical exercise might help prevent fat regain.

Exercising after liposuction important and possibly essential

Dr. Benatti said:

"We found that removing adipose tissue from the body, as liposuction does, may result in a decrease in total energy expenditure and compensatory growth of visceral fat which is associated with heart disease.

The good news is that exercise training was effective in counteracting this compensatory growth. If someone chooses to undergo liposuction, it is very important, if not essential, that this person exercises after the surgery."

Of course, if fat people were so good at exercising, they would not be getting abdominal liposuction.