Run Britain - News - Get out for a run today and empty Christmas cholesterol down the plughole!
Dr Gill said: “We can think of the level of lipids in our blood as being like the level of water in a bath.
Get out for a run today and empty Christmas cholesterol down the plughole! ©British Heart Foundation
Even if you exercise for just for 30 minutes the British Heart Foundation say this can reduce the levels of fat, such as cholesterol, in your blood for up to two days. Researchers at the University of Glasgow, funded by the British Heart Foundation have found that exercising may actually change the structure of lipids (blood fats) and this allows the body to get rid of them more easily.
A team led by Dr Jason Gill ran a small study of overweight men, getting them to walk on a treadmill for two hours. They looked at how quickly blood lipids were made and broken-down by the men’s bodies before, and one day after, the exercise.
They saw that exercise didn’t slow down production of blood lipids, but it significantly increased their clearance from the bloodstream.
Dr Gill said: “We can think of the level of lipids in our blood as being like the level of water in a bath. To reduce the water level you can either turn off the tap, or increase the size of the plughole to let it drain out. For blood lipids this is equivalent to producing less, or breaking them down more.
“Our research suggests that exercise works at the ‘plughole’ end of the process, increasing the body’s ability to break down the fats faster. We think this might occur through structural changes to the lipid particles making them more amenable to clearance from the blood.
“The lipid lowering effect of each exercise session lasts for a couple of days, so it is important to undertake regular physical activity to maximise the benefits.”
So, get your shoes on, head out of the door and break down the fat that may have sneaked in with your Christmas dinner!
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