Not all belly fat is the same. This 1 habit can make your belly fat healthier, experts say

All belly fat is not made equal. New research published in the journal Nature Metabolism on Sept. 10 found that people with obesity who get regular aerobic exercise are storing healthier fat in their bellies compared to people with obesity who don’t.

The study followed 32 participants, both male and female. Half of them exercised four times per week for two years or more and the other half didn’t. In the end, even if they had the same percentage of overall body fat, those who exercised consistently had more beneficial belly fat.

“Fat is really misunderstood,” Jeffrey Horowitz, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, who worked on the study, told NBC News. “The fat we have, especially that which is stored under our skin, is a really important place to store our energy.”

Horowitz and his fellow researchers matched the two groups of participants by age, body fat percentage, sex and body mass index (BMI). After collecting samples of fat tissue from each participant’s belly, measuring blood flow, rigidity and fibrousness of the tissue, they found that exercise restructured the active group’s abdominal fat. Their tissue was less fibrous, meaning certain fat cells were able to expand and store fat, which is a good thing.

That's because there are different kinds of fat. Subcutaneous fat is the fat just under the skin, the kind you can pinch with your fingers around your midsection. Another other kind is called visceral fat, and it lives deeper in your belly between your organs, and it’s associated with a host of health risks.

Having flexible fat cells because of regular exercise means your body will be able to store more fat subcutaneously, where it's less harmful. If your fat cells are inflexible and fat can’t be stored there, the fat will end up between your organs instead.

Previous research has found that belly fat — which can come about because of obesity, menopause, age, genetics and dietary habits — can impact you beyond your appearance. And the consequences of an increase in belly fat, particularly visceral belly fat, can lead to high blood pressure, sleep apnea, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and more, per the Mayo Clinic.

The study also found that fat tissue in the group that exercised was less inflamed and had more blood vessels than the sedentary group, meaning they were able to glean more energy from their fat stores.

“If you have more blood vessels going into these cells, it suggests they are metabolizing more,” Dr. Jaime Almandoz, a medical director of the Weight Wellness Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not involved with the research, told NBC News.

The exercisers also had higher insulin sensitivity, which helps to lower the risk of diabetes.

“People who exercise regularly appear to have much healthier subcutaneous adipose tissue (body fat), which would suggest that they have better overall metabolic function,” Dr. Aayush Visaria, an internal medicine resident at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, who was not involved with the research, told NBC News. “It adds to the whole idea that obesity is a very complex subject with many variables involved, so we should not be making blanket statements about someone’s body type.”

“Not only have we already shown that body fat distribution is important, now here is another layer showing that what kind of fat you have is important, and how much exercise you engage in can really make a difference,” Visaria added.

While fat is often considered a bad thing, it is essential. It’s responsible for storing energy, releasing energy, insulating the body and it’s also essential to hormone signaling, per the Cleveland Clinic. But too much or too little fat can cause disruptions in your bodily functions.

If you'd like to reduce your belly fat, consider opting for foods that take longer to digest, up your fiber and protein intake, exercise, monitor your sleep and stress, and reduce your alcohol intake, TODAY.com previously reported.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com