Most of us have a little extra padding – these additional wobbly bits, represent our body’s systematic storage of all the extra calories we consume. The body is storing them for a rainy day, of course, a rainy day seldom comes, so in addition to getting a little wider every year, we also get a little heavier.
Fat is not just a cupboard
Turns out those fat cells don’t just store fat, the fat tissue is actually very much part of the body.
In fact, it should be included in the list of body parts learnt at school. Based on its role, adipose tissue, more commonly referred to as FAT, occupies the niche of an endocrine organ, along with the pancreas, thyroid and adrenal gland.
Fat cells are prolific endocrine accessories
Unlike the more traditional endocrine organs which typically produce one or two hormones.
Fat cells (adipocytes), spit out a huge array of chemicals – the current count stands at 80 different substances. Many of the “fat chemicals” are not unique to fat cells, but a handful, such as leptin and adiponectin, are only made by fat cells. Scientists are still trying to figure out what all of these chemicals do but many of them are involved in inflammation.
The official term for all these chemicals being produced by fat cells (adipocytes) is adipokines.
Adipokine upsets cause TROUBLE
Extra fat is never a good thing in terms of health.
Being fat, more-or-less puts you at risk of every health problem imaginable from asthma to zits. The longer you’re fat and the more fat you accumulate, the bigger your problems – being fat typically ends with one or more of the big lifestyle diseases
- diabetes
- cardiovascular disease i.e. heart attack, stroke
- cancer
The reason those few extra pounds cause SO MUCH trouble, is because of the dirge of fluids being produced by the fat cells. .
Stuffing full fat cells leads to temper tantrums
The more calories you feed them, the more fat cells are formed.
All excess calories, fat or carbohydrate, are ultimately stored in the fat cells. But carbohydrate calories are particularly problematic due to the toxicity of sugar. A carbohydrate loaded meal causes a surge in insulin, insulin’s primary job description is to “feed fat cells”.
High insulin levels mean fat cells never get a chance to unload their fat burden.
Sniffling snotting fat cells
The newly formed, invariably over full baby fat cells are like crabby babies – wailing and whimpering.
Whining fat cells create a stir, ratcheting up the levels of inflammation in the body, leading to the long list of health problems.
Pacify the fat cells
To silence the crabby fat cells you need to
- Stop feeding them
- Obey the rule of thirds when you eat
- Soothe the adipokine storm by dialing down the oxidative stress
Further reading