A recent study revealed that stronger muscles might assist guard against organ damage associated with obesity.
According to a research published Oct. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, obese people with stronger handgrip strength were less likely to develop obesity-related heart, liver, or kidney damage and they were at a reduced chance of early death.
Assistant professor of chronic disease epidemiology at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Dr. Yun Shen stated, “Our findings show that muscle strength is a powerful early sign of who is most at risk of developing obesity-induced organ dysfunctions.”
Grip strength is easy to measure and can be enhanced through weight training, Shen mentioned that this could be the easiest and low-cost way to detect and assist at-risk individuals early.
For the study, researchers assessed data from over 93,000 participants in the UK Biobank over an average of 13 years, focusing on those with “preclinical obesity,” when extra body fat has not yet caused organ damage.
Results indicated that higher grip strength was associated with a significantly lower reduced risk of obesity-related health problems. Black people, women, and non-smokers benefited the most.
Researchers stressed the need for further studies to confirm whether stronger muscles directly reduce obesity-related organ risks.
