Search Here

Now there could be no need to hit the treadmill or to go for a jog, as scientists say that the spare tyre you are trying to get rid of may be in fact doing you good.

A latest study claims that an extra layer of fat on the stomach may actually be helpful in regulating the immune system and could also provide defence against viral infections.

Also, a hard-to-shift beer belly is believed to help recover from an injury and regenerate tissues.

Scientists in Chicago say that the fatty membrane in the belly, called the omentum, has health benefits.

They believe that their discovery could lead to the development of new drugs for organ transplant patients, and people with auto-immune diseases such as Lupus and Crohn's disease, reports Mail Online.

So now we know that fat settles on the abdomen for most people for a reason!

It was found that omentum, which covers most of the abdominal organs, may be helpful in stopping transplant patients' bodies rejecting new organs, and in tissue healing and regeneration. Scientists have also found that the cells can suppress the immune system's response to an infectious agent, says the report.

'We now have evidence that the omentum is not just fat sitting in the belly,' said Dr Makio Iwashima, from the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

The study was published June 6 in the journal PLoS One.