Workouts can make DNA look healthier too

INHERITED DNA genes cannot be changed — but it is said that the way genes express themselves can be altered by individual actions.

A study published in the journal PLOS Genetics has found that a workout can positively affect the way cells interact with fat stored in the body.

The genes have attached “methyl groups”, which affect what is known as “gene expression”. They can be influenced in various ways such as exercise, diet and lifestyle.

Lead author Charlotte Ling, associate professor at Lund University Diabetes Centre in Sweden, said: “Our study shows the positive effects of exercise, because the epigenetic pattern of genes that affect fat storage in the body changes.”

Researchers looked at the DNA of 23 slightly overweight but healthy men, aged about 35, who did not regularly exercise, after attending spinning and aerobics classes for six months.

They found that changes had taken place in 7 000 genes, more than a third of the average total of 20 000. A closer look revealed that genes linked to diabetes and obesity — also connected to storing fat — had also been altered.

“We found changes in those genes too, which suggests that altered DNA methylation as a result of physical activity could be one of the mechanisms of how these genes affect the risk of disease. This has never before been studied in fat cells,” Lind said. —