Big bottoms backed by scientists
Being ample in the rear is a lot better than overflowing in the belly department, according to a new study.
Researchers have known for some time that fat stored on the thighs, hips and buttocks is healthier than that stored around the abdomen, but they have not known why.
But now scientists from Oxford University, who have been studying the two different types of fat, think lower-body fat produces hormones that help fight disease, like diabetes.
Fat around the belly if for quick storage - taking up fatty acids from meals quite avidly and releasing them in times of exercise, again very quickly.
However, thigh fat is basically long-term storage, so it's much more sluggish in its metabolism.
It's also the source of beneficial hormones which are called leptin and adiponectin that help the body metabolise sugars and fats in a better way.
This is not an excuse for eating more biccies, as I reckon it'll be probably be very difficult to trim your middle while keeping the 'junk in the trunk'!
Weird Science Factoid: To have your picture taken by the very first camera you would have had to sit still for eight hours. Must have made family portraits a nightmare!
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Authors
Daniel Smith - a long time ago, in a galaxy far away just north of Watford, Daniel fancied himself as a scientist but turned out to be the worst scientist since that bloke who mapped out all those canals on Mars that turned out to be scratches on his telescope's lens. Luckily, he is now not working on the Large Hadron Collider inadvertently creating a black hole that would swallow the world but is safely behind a desk writing this blog, bringing you the fantastical underbelly of nature... weird science.
