An investigation directed by doctor Tongjian You, of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (United States) and published in the "International Journal of Obesity", goes further on and it not only demonstrates that the fight against "love handles" is important to conserve a healthy heart, but that the exercise is fundamental to obtain it.

This investigation, that lasted five months in 45 middle-aged women with overweight problems, paid special attention to the size of the subcutaneous abdominal fat cells. An elevated size of these cells is directly related to the metabolic syndrome, which supposes an important factor of cardiovascular risk and diabetes type 2.

Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine what type of habits that can contribute to their reduction. And exercise was a key measure.

In order to carry out the analysis, three different groups were structured in the investigation.

A first group was put under a diet without exercise, whereas the second and third group combined the nutritional regime with a low and high intensity activity.

The results demonstrated that the women in all the three groups, that lost around 2.800 calories per week, became slimmer and reduced the amount of accumulated fat; however, the investigation also showed that only the women who made physical exercise were able to reduce the size of their abdominal fat cells. The intensity of the physical activity was not, nevertheless, relevant.