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Bigger butts make for better health, study suggests
Sir Mix-A-Lot was onto something after all—that is, if you subscribe to the findings of a study from the University of Oxford.
EliteDaily.com said the study found women with bigger butts may be smarter and more resistant to chronic illnesses as they tend to have lower cholesterol levels.
The article, citing an ABC News report, added women with bigger butts also are more likely to produce hormones to metabolize sugar and thus are less likely to have diabetes or heart problems.
Also, the study showed a big butt may mean more Omega 3 fats, which are linked to catalyzing brain development.
On the other hand, the study showed children born to women with wider hips are likely to be intellectually superior.
"It is the protective role of lower body, that is [thigh and backside] fat, that is striking. The protective properties of the lower body fat depot have been confirmed in many studies conducted in subjects with a wide range of age, BMI and co-morbidities," ABC News quoted the researchers as saying in the Journal of Obesity.
ABC News had also quoted Dr. Michael Jensen, director of endocrine research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, as saying that if one is to have fat, "you're definitely better off if you've got some fat in the lower body."
"If you look at people who have primarily the pear shape, they're healthy in all the ways that this fat behaves. It's not just less heart attacks or less diabetes, it's all these ways we think about fat as an important organ for our health," he added.
Dr. Robert Kushner, a professor medicine specializing in obesity at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, added there is much evidence that shows "fat depots are not the same in the body."
Kushner added fat stored in the stomach is harmful because "it is more metabolically active," but fat in the lower regions may be more stable.
Fat in the lower regions also release fewer cytokines, which have been implicated in the insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes.
However, ABC News also quoted experts as saying it remains unclear if fat in the thighs and butt are better than simply being thin.
"You can't direct or drive the fat in one part of your body versus another. For the average person on the street, it's determined by genetics," Kushner said. — TJD, GMA News
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