Although it is common knowledge that regular exercise helps maintain a healthy heart, a group of scientists believes it has succeeded in showing why. The exercise stimulates the growth of new blood vessels. Contrary to what happens with the anaerobic metabolism that uses sugar as a source of energy, aerobic metabolism breaks down fat for energy.
The team of researchers from Duke University studied what happens in mice when they exercise in a running wheel. The training exercise stimulates the production of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF by its acronym in English).
VEGF stimulates the growth of new blood vessels or angiogenesis. The number of capillaries feeding the muscles increased and trained some of the muscle fibers that had been working anaerobically changed to work aerobically.
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