Obesity - Physiology of Fat Storage

Expert answer:

The number of obese people has increased a lot in Brazil, so much that the obesity is already considered a problem of public health. Beyond the whole question aesthetics obesity should be viewed from the point of view of medicine with seriousness, considering that obesity leads to an increase in the incidence of several diseases as high pressure, diabetes, and the cardiovascular diseases; all chronic diseases that require health care constant. An old ally of our "knowledge" can serve to understand the physiology involved in the process of weight gain. Every time we know the subject better we can deal with the problem better.

Our adipose tissue is formed by cells known as adipocytes. The main function of adipocytes is grease storage. Adipose tissue is found in greater quantity below our skin, distributed irregularly by the body (some places have a larger fat tissue - thicker) and also in the abdomen around our guts.

The fat accumulated under the skin has the function of protecting the Human Body of the cold and together with fat accumulated in the abdomen serve as an energy reserve in times of food shortages. So in this way our body was created, as we use clothes to protect ourselves from the cold and we do several meals a day (there are no food shortages), so the fat accumulated in our body is no longer an evolutionary advantage to become a medical and aesthetic problem.

The accumulation of fat in our body is made from the leftovers of food, every time we eat more food than necessary for our maintenance there is accumulation of these leftovers in the form of fat. From an energetic point of view, our organism is able to carbohydrates (sugars), the fats and the proteins.

Our body always gives preference to carbohydrates, failing that, chooses the fat to obtain energy and in the last case makes use of the proteins. The problem is that carbohydrates are stored in small quantities in the liver and muscles, all that remains is turned into fat to form our adipose tissue. Fats when ingested are directly taken to the sites of accumulation and the proteins go through more specific processes so that their remains are transformed into fat.

This is the basic principle of fat accumulation, weight gain and obesity. Understanding the functioning of our body can help us formulate measures for the weight loss such as a diet to lose weight or even a healthier food.

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