Fat cells – YUK !

This is one group of cells we are programmed to despise. We celebrate HEART HEALTH, BONE HEALTH, BRAIN AWARENESS ….. but, pretty sure you’ve never been invited to a day marking FAT CELL APPRECIATION DAY.

Of course, in the natural scheme of things – being well endowed is a turn on, a secret sign prophesying abundance and reproductive success.

But……….. not so much in modern man.

Fat cells are to blame

It is not just a matter of aesthetics, the excessively endowed are metabolically challenged, they’ve got metabolic syndrome, aka they’re insulin resistant. Ironically, the health issues stemming from this metabolic condition, include reproductive difficulties. Go figure.

Officially………… fat cells are to blame.

The story goes

You ate too much and exercised too little – filling up your fat cells to a point, where they were overfull. One day, your overfull fat cells decided enough is enough and so they refused to store any more of your excess calories. When your fat cells shut up shop…………. you became insulin resistant. Just stop eating and get off the couch and everything will be ALL RIGHT.

Anomalies are genetic aberrations

Now truth be told – there are fat people who are insulin sensitive and thin people, who are insulin resistant, so the pattern does not always hold i.e. you don’t always eat yourself into this condition.

To explain the anomalies……….as some kind of genetic aberration.

But fat cells are more than storage cupboards – they are the equivalent of an organ in your body i.e. they are a heart or a liver. They’re influencing multiple aspects of your physiology, including baby making, wound healing and hair growth. I’ll tell you this story in an upcoming post.

Healthy fat cells are critical

And in people who are insulin resistant – they’re not so healthy, for starters, they’re typically surrounded by a posse of immune cells and their membranes are wonky.

The immune cells are in a tizz – fighting “BAD GUYS”, which seem to be imaginary, possibly figments of your fat cells imagination.

But what if the bad guys are REAL, we’re just not SEEING them ?

Fat cells caught in a war zone ?

Researchers from University of Iowa have used a little wizardry to create fat cells that live “forever”, something that “normal” fat cells don’t do. And something that is required if you want to study fat cells in a lab.

The team then exposed these “live forever” fat cells, to superantigens, a toxin routinely produced by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. S.aureus is a bacteria that lives on human skin, not everyone has it, but lots of us do, and it seems to like setting up shop in people who are overweight and suffering from diabetes. It has a reputation for causing trouble, because it is often resistant to the antibiotic methicillin, causing very serious infections, it is also responsible for toxic shock syndrome and endocarditis.

Fat cells going about their daily business could encounter this bacterial toxin. These researchers discovered, when they do – it is an upsetting experience.

Inflammatory storm

Setting in motion a panic attack…… in this study, the fat cells released chemicals which stoked the inflammatory fireworks.

This panic attack is STRESSFUL, so it more than likely contributes to insulin resistance in general, but also blocks wound healing, an issue for diabetics. It is worth noting, diabetic foot ulcers, the sores that never heal and often result in amputations, are infections in which S.aureus plays a starring role.

Cut your fat cells some slack

When you glance at yourself in the mirror, assuming you’re not too afraid…

• do you call your fat cells out, maybe even call them derogatory names ?
• do you fantasize that a fairy god mother will fly in and extract them all ?

The trouble might not be them, the trouble may be the neighbourhood in which they’re living. You’ve got bad body chemistry and they’re taking strain. Luckily, small things can make a big difference to the neighbourhood.

Sign up for our free course, 31 days to Better Body Chemistry and begin the journey today.

Further reading

Exercise can make-over your fat cells even if you’re not losing weight	Give your fat cells a bottle to pacify them	Are your stem cells choosing to be fat cells rather than bone cells ?