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Jeff Horowitz wants to understand the finer points of fat
- how we process it, how we use it, how we store it.
One question he's asking is how exercise affects the
whole energy process, from taking in fat and sugar
to burning it off.
Horowitz, assistant professor in Kinesiology, hopes his research will lead to improved methods of treating chronic diseases or to advancements in healthy aging.
Read more about Jeff's latest research >
THE BIG PICTURE: OVERVIEW
The main goal of Jeff Horowitz's research is understanding how the body regulates fuel, especially fat.
His research team is exploring how diet and exercise affect that process and, as a result, impact health.
THE FATE OF FAT: TRACING ITS PATH
To understand where fat goes in our bodies, Horowitz's team asks study participants to drink what they euphemistically call a milkshake - actually heavy cream mixed with tracers that attach to the fat in the cream.
Then the researchers take muscle and blood samples and analyze participants' breath to see where the tracer-labeled fat goes.
METABOLISM MATTERS
Fat metabolism is particularly important
in Type 2 diabetes, in which muscle tissue loses its ability to take up sugar from the blood.
EXERCISE AND INSULIN
Exercise has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity. As diabetes is a disease of insulin resistance, Horowitz hopes that understanding how exercise changes our bodies' use of fuel may lead to better diabetes management. The research team looks at muscle tissue to see how exercise affects the movement of fat.
After you eat fat, does your body do something different if you're sitting at your desk than if you're running a marathon?
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE
Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States, and medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes and stroke are all more common in people who are overweight.
Horowitz hopes to better understand, at the level of individual cells inside the body, how diet and exercise affect human health, with the goal of helping people live longer, healthier lives.
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