Because fat plays such a vital role in keeping us alive, the body strives to keep plenty on hand. This efficiency can lead to an accumulation of too much fat if we take in more calories than we burn.
If you tend to store fat above the waist, your shape is apple-like; if you tend to store it below the waist, your shape is pear-like.
Weight gain in the area of and above the waist (apple type) is more dangerous than weight gained around the hips and flank area (pear type). Fat cells in the upper body have different qualities than those found in hips and thighs.
• Hypertrophic Obesity - an increase in the size of the adipose cell.
• Size can increase 8-10 times.
• Number - never reaches a limit; can multiply when excess fat needs to be stored.
Increasing weight is associated with increase in fat cell number and not in size.
Loss of weight however, is not associated with decreased fat cell number. Hence weight loss becomes difficult as cells only shrink to a definite size and no more before function is compromised. These individuals must be careful with their calorie intake and must not go on binges as it may precipitate the creation of more fat cells.
• Fat cell number increases more rapidly in obese children than in lean children.
• Obese children entering their teen years may already have as many fat cells as do adults of normal weight.
• With fat loss, the size of the fat cell decreases, but the number of fat cells never decreases (must have it removed via liposuction!).
• Prevention of obesity is MOST critical during the growing years when fat cells increase in number.
Fat Cell Metabolism and Obesity:
• Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) promotes fat storage in both adipose and muscle cells. Relative ratios of LPL expression in these two tissues have therefore been suggested to determine body mass composition as well as play a role in the initiation and/or development of obesity.
• People with high LPL activity store fat very efficiently, so even a modest excess in energy intake will cause fat storage.
LPL activity is regulated by gender-specific hormones:
– Estrogen – fat cells of the breast, hip, and thighs produce abundant LPL, so women tend to store more fat in these areas.
– Testosterone – fat cells in the abdomen produce abundant LPL, so men tend to store more fat in the abdomen.
• Lower body fat is less active than upper body fat, so it is harder to lose weight in the hips and thighs
Each person has a “set point” weight. It has been postulated that individual fats cells control this set point when the fat cell becomes smaller it sends a powerful message to the brain to eat.
When the body’s fat cells are pumped up with high levels of fat, insulin triggers the body to manufacture more fat cells. Once a fat cell is formed it sends signals to the brain to make the person eat so that it can be filled with fat, thereby producing a long term stimulus to weight gain. While the body is able to add new fat cells, it is impossible to reduce the number of existing fat cells via natural means.
Fat Cell Metabolism and Set Point:
• After weight loss, LPL activity increases, and it does so most dramatically in people who had been fattest prior to weight loss.
• Weight loss serves as a signal to the gene that produces the LPL enzyme, saying “Make more enzymes to store fat”.
• The body can easily regain the weight back as fat if there is an excess of calories going in vs. energy expended.
• This “set -point” mechanism explains why people fight to lose weight, but how the body will fight back to put the body’s weight back at a particular fixed or set point.
Changes in body shape are accompanied by changes in blood fat and sugar levels.
Your body stores fat wherever you have fat cells. The midsection of your body (your abdomen, hips or buttocks) is the best place to store extra energy because it takes less energy to carry it around.
Fat is lost all over your body, not just in the area that you need. Therefore, there is no food, no exercise, and no herb that will cause your body to remove fat in one place versus another.
Focusing on one area of the body for exercise may develop better muscle tone in that area, which will make that part of the body appear tighter and fit, but it will not remove fat from that area.
The truth on losing body fat:
Moreover, a patient whose BMI exceeds 40 is a potential candidate for surgery if they strongly desire substantial weight loss, because obesity severely impairs the quality of their lives. There are many types of bariatric surgery. They can include surgery to restrict the size of the stomach and/or surgery to bypass parts of the digestive tract. All of these surgeries carry risks, some of them serious.
There are a number of products on the market for weight loss. Many products that claim weight reduction abilities are not regulated however. Before taking any medications, supplements or other products to induce weight loss you should discuss the issue with your doctor. Some products can interfere with medications you are already taking or could cause other problems.
To get rid of body fat, do it the right way: through diet and exercise, and not through cosmetic surgery. A diet that is low in cholesterol and fats and limited in sugars may help control blood fat and sugar levels. Aerobic exercise three or more times a week for 30 minutes may also help control blood fat and sugar levels. Exercise and moderate weight lifting can increase lean body mean (muscle) and improve body shape.
