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Fat burns as soon as you start exercising

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-25 10:52

Endurance is important during exercise but the stubborn belief that the body begins to burn fat only after 30 minutes is a myth, according to Ingo Froboese, a professor at the Health Center of the German Sport University in Cologne.

"The truth is that the body basically has four different energy supply systems that it can draw on depending on the demand and the situation," he says.

Glucose (sugar) metabolism and lipid (fat) metabolism play the biggest roles in everyday activities and during exercise. The two systems work almost in parallel, the energy share from each varying depending on the body's requirements.

"Lipid metabolism is the system with the largest energy depot, owing to the gigantic reserves of stored fat," Froboese explains. A man weighing 70 kg has about 180,000 kilocalories of stored fat, he says.

Although lipid metabolism is almost always active during exercise, Froboese says, it is much less effective in people who are not physically fit.

"Lipid metabolism is directly involved in providing sufficient energy as soon as exercise begins," Froboese says.

Being the most important energy generator, lipid metabolism should regularly be tapped both in everyday activities and during exercise, Froboese advises.