For years, nutritionists, scientists and professors have preached that not all fat is created equal. Those who carry fat in their stomachs, aka “apple-shaped” individuals, are known to have more health-related issues than those who carry their fat in their hips. A study published by researchers at the University of Oxford and Churchill Hospital in the United Kingdom echoes the idea, showing that women who carry their body fat around their thighs, backside and lower body—basically, those who are “pear-shaped”—may be smarter and healthier, too.
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The study, which analyzed data from 16,000 women, found that those with larger-than-average backsides are not only more intelligent than those with smaller butts, but also more resistant to chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Lower cholesterol and glucose levels, higher levels of omega-3 fats (which boosts cognitive brain function), along with dinopectina, a hormone with anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic benefits, also favors those with larger backsides.
“The idea that body fat distribution is important to health has been known for some time,” says Konstantinos Manolopoulous, lead researcher. “However, it is only very recently that thigh fat and a large hip circumference have been shown to promote health; that lower body fat is protective by itself.”
