Buff Mice Show 'Weight Training' Muscles Reduce Fat And Improve Metabolism

It may not be time to start pumping iron just yet, but, as strange as it sounds, there is evidence in recent mice studies published in the February 6th issue of Cell Metabolism that indicates that the type of muscles that are developed by weight lifting may play a bigger role in regulating body weight than we think.

You're saying, someone has a lab full of bench-pressing mice in some medical school somewhere? Although a great image, you would only be right about the medical school part. It turns out that a team of researchers at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute of Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) has been bulking up their test mice using a technique that genetically turns on the type of fast skeletal muscles (type II) that are used for tasks like managing heavy objects.

HEPATIC STEATOSIS

No, really- somewhere in a lab in Boston, there was a team of muscular mice who were bulked up like weight trainers by genetic manipulation. Interestingly, the researchers didn't see what they expected.

The research group had expected their gene tweaking to result in fat but strong mice, more like sumo wrestlers than body builders, since the mice were being fed a fast-food-like, high-fat and high-sucrose, diet causing them to be fat to begin with all the expected problems. What they got instead was a test group that showed positive metabolic improvements when the type II fast muscle genetic switch was turned on and the muscles developed. "Remarkably, type II muscle growth was associated with an overall reduction in body mass, due to a large decrease in fat mass. In addition, blood tests showed that these mice became metabolically normal and their fatty liver disease rapidly resolved," said senior author Kenneth Walsh, PhD, a professor of medicine and head of Molecular Cardiology at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at BUSM. The beneficial changes occurred despite the fact that the mice continued to eat the same high-calorie diet and did not display any increase in physical activity. "This work shows that type II muscle just doesn't allow you to pick up heavy objects, it is also important in controlling whole body metabolism," added Walsh.

Further analysis found that the mice burned fat because of changes in the physiology and gene expression of their fat and liver cells. "Thus, it appears that the increase in type II muscle fiber orchestrates changes in the body through its ability to communicate with these other tissues," he said.

So, here is what all of this may mean to us. We've always known that activities like weight lifting that form fast, type II muscles were good for burning calories that might otherwise convert to fat. What we didn't know was that the existence of this muscle type could have such far-reaching effect in other metabolic areas as well, such as reducing hepatic steatosis (fatty liver). Walsh believes there might well be an extended connection to humans suggesting that "strength training, in addition to the widely prescribed therapy of endurance training, may be of particular benefit to overweight individuals."

The researchers are still busy revealing the interplay between diet, muscle type, and the body's metabolic systems. Their initial research is clearly the beginning of a longer process, and hopefully the further insight can lead to improvements in the treatment of those in need of weight loss and further reduce conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and hypertension.

Who would have thought that paying attention to a bunch of buff mice would have such far-reaching results.

Remember, too, that this article is for information purposes only. If you have or think you have a health issue, including weight or diet issues, consult your primary care physician for proper diagnoses and treatment.

Personal Fit Weight Loss Guide dx.doi.org/10.2121/Weight-Loss-Guide-020808

Buff Mice Show 'Weight Training' Muscles Reduce Fat And Improve Metabolism

HEPATIC STEATOSIS