Facts about Fat in the Body

Adipose tissue, also known as body fat, is a complicated topic. Misinformation about adipose tissue prevents a good understanding of the dangers of too much body fat. Fat is not inert and we are designed to store it. Our modern lifestyles, with an abundance of calories and energy-saving technology, interfere with our evolutionary design and our long term health.

Let’s start with some important reminders.

First, some adipose tissue is important. We need it for insulation, nervous system and brain function, bone marrow health and membranes around organs. This fat is essential fat. You can’t be healthy without it.

Second, we have a few types of body fat storage including white, brown and beige fat. Fat can be stored subcutaneously, viscerally, and intramuscularly.

Third, body composition is more important than our weight.

Types of Body Fat

White fat is stored under the skin and around organs. White fat is how we store energy. It is the body’s bank account for saving extra energy and helps in the function of hormones including, estrogen, leptin (hunger stimulating hormone), insulin, cortisol (stress hormone) and growth hormone. Some white fat is important, too much is harmful. It increases the symptoms associated with menopause, the risk of heart disease and diabetes while making it harder to burn fat as fuel.

Brown fat is most commonly found in babies, helping to keep them warm. Adults can have some, but not everyone has it.

Beige fat is a combination of white and brown fat cells. It has only recently been studied, but it seems to act more like brown fat and burn off fat calories as opposed to storing them.

Location, location, location

Like many other things, the location of body fat is very important when it comes to the impact on our health and our performance.

Subcutaneous fat is under your skin. It is the fat you can pinch and measure with skinfold calipers.

Visceral fat, or belly fat, is white fat found in the abdomen and around your organs. It affects the liver, kidney, pancreas, intestines and heart.

Having more visceral fat increases the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Intramuscular Fat

We have an almost unlimited capacity for storing calories as fat. A lean competitive marathon runner has more than 100,000 calories of stored fat, enough to run for 100 hours.

Over time, consuming too many calories and doing too little activity leads to an accumulation of fat within our muscles, intramuscular fat. Intramuscular fat causes insulin resistance, inflammation and impaired muscle regeneration.

Body Composition

Measuring and understanding body composition is far more important than body weight. Having a healthy body composition is independent of your weight and includes a healthy amount of body fat relative to the amount of lean, muscle mass. This results in an improved hormonal balance, reproductive health, temperature regulation, healthy metabolism, blood sugar regulation, nervous system function and vitamin storage.

Measuring Body Composition

There are a number of ways to measure body composition. The gold standard is a DEXA scan. The most unreliable is bio-electrical impedance which is found in home scales and at some gyms. A qualified professional can measure body fat with calipers, but that won’t be an option with the current physical distancing measures. You can estimate your body fat with this calculator, remember it is an estimate and works best if you are using it to see a change over time. I have measured my body fat with calipers and with this calculator and this one is less accurate.

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Sarcopaenic Obesity

This is a new classification of obesity, which is high levels of body fat along with low levels of muscle mass, regardless of body weight. Sarcopaenic Obesity (SO) highlights the importance of knowing and understanding your own body composition. It has some serious health implications which are accelerated by inappropriate diets and sedentary living.

More fat, less muscle

The more fat you have the easier it is to store more fat. Muscle tissue becomes disrupted with fat. Lean muscles make more mitochondria, the fuel cells of our muscles, they increase our metabolism. The more fat stored within muscle, the older the muscle acts, it is unable to function properly. The number of mitochondria drops. The muscle becomes less sensitive to insulin, contributing to weight gain. As muscles become marbled with fat they become efficient at storing more fat.

The key to healthy body composition

The good news is that you can regain muscle mass at any age. You can lose fat at any age. The secret is to be in it for the long game. This is not a solution you can “hack.”

Changing your body composition is not going to happen quickly, but the results include better health and performance. It means consistently eating well and exercising regularly.

Next week what you can do to burn more fat!

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla