“The most exciting result of this study was that exercise causes several changes to fat — not just by decreasing the amount of fat, but changes at the molecular level,” said Kristin Stanford, a postdoctoral fellow at Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School.

The study included testing fat samples of human subjects before and after 12 weeks of training. The participants worked out five days per week on exercise bicycles at high intensity for 60-90 minutes per session before testing their fat levels.

Laurie Goodyear, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said they also studied the effects on mice, with results stating healthy changes of subcutaneous fat in the mice.

MSU Associate Professor of Medicine, Saleh Aldasouqi, said the study was “encouraging,” and reinforces the positive impact of exercise for obese and diabetic individuals.

“They showed the importance of brown adipose tissue,” Aldasouqi said. “It seems that white fat, which is usually found in the abdomen area gives rise to diabetes and other problems.”

Aldasouqi also said those who exercise shouldn’t worry about weight loss because it’s improving their health.

Physiology junior Michelle Abraham said she would like to see other scientists repeat this study to gain a better understanding of the effects of fat toward diabetic people.

“I would like to see more scientists repeating this study and checking up on what these scientists are doing,” Abraham said. “Diabetes affects so many people around the world, so this would be very helpful to the health community.”