#33: 5 Things You Don't Know About Body Fat

Fat is the ultimate three-letter word

especially the kind that you spend so much time watching your diet 

and hitting the gym to keep at bay (or at least to keep off your butt)

But beyond making you look less-than-svelte

fat can have significant physical and emotional implications

1. Fat Comes In Different Colors

More specifically, there are different types of fat that have different hues and functions

white normal fat cells (left) vs brown long-term fat cells (right)

White

what most people think of as fat -- pale and useless

Useless in that it has a low metabolic rate 

so it doesn't help you burn any calories the way muscle does 

and it's the predominant type of fat in the human body

encompassing more than 90 percent of it

In other words, it's a storage unit for extra calories

Brown

Brown fat is darker in color due to a rich blood supply 

and can actually burn calories rather than storing them 

--but only if you're a rat (or other mammal)

certain critters can activate brown fat to burn calories 

and generate heat to keep them warm in winter

Humans, sadly, have so little brown fat that it won't help you burn calories or keep you warm

Beige
Between white and brown in terms of its calorie-burning ability which is actually very exciting.
Why? Because researchers are looking into ways to shift white fat cells
into more metabolically active beige ones via diet and exercise or supplements
In fact, there is preliminary evidence that certain hormones which are activated by exercise
may convert white fat cells into beige ones
as well as some evidence that certain foods such as brown seaweed, licorice root
and hot peppers may have the ability to do this as well
I love spicy food yay!!

2. The Fat On Your Butt Is Healthier Than The Fat On Your Belly

It's probably safe to say that no woman favors the fat on one body part over another

but it's actually safer health-wise to be more of a pear than an apple [body shape]
Belly fat, also known as visceral fat

is much more responsive to the stress hormone cortisol 

compared to the fat on your thighs or butt, so when stress hits hard 

(and you don't find a healthy way to handle it)

any extra calories consumed are more likely to end up around your middle

Belly fat is also much more inflammatory than fat located elsewhere in the body
and can create its own inflammatory chemicals (as a tumor would)
These chemicals travel to the brain and make you hungry and tired
so you're more likely to overeat or eat junk food and not exercise
thus creating a vicious cycle and perpetuating the storage of more belly fat

The good news is that anything that helps you reduce inflammation
helps reduce those signals to the brain!
Food recommended: fish oil (for the Omega 3's) and probiotics
which you can take in pill form or get by eating yogurt with active cultures

3. First You Burn Calories, Second You Burn Fat

The term "fat-burning" is thrown around willy-nilly in fitness circles
but as an expression of weight loss, it's indirect
Before you "burn" fat, you burn calories, whether those calories come from
stored carbohydrates (glycogen and blood sugar) or from stored body fat

The more calories you burn during each workout
the bigger deficit you will create and the more fat you will loseYou can also create a calorie deficit by eating less (:

4. Fat Affects Your Mood

Certainly there is no easier way to ruin your day 

--than seeing you've gone up a few numbers on the scale but having excess fat
-- especially around your belly --
activates that inflammation/cortisol cycle
which studies show may be a factor in serious mood disorders like bipolar disorder

If you're stuck in a stress/eat/gain/stress cycle,however,
you're likely to experience at least a perpetually low mood
even if you don't have an actual clinical condition

To help break the cycle, try eating a square of dark chocolate!
 there is just enough sugar to satisfy a stress-induced craving
but the healthy flavonoids help calm inflammation
Low-fat dairy products like yogurt can have a similar effect
-- the combination of calcium and magnesium can help calm the stress response

5. Even Skinny People Can Have Cellulite

The dreaded c-word is caused by fat trapped under the skin (known as subcutaneous fat)
The overlying skin "dimples" are created by connective tissues
that tie the skin to the underlying muscle, with fat trapped in between like a sandwich
You don't need a lot of fat to cause a dimpling effect, so you can be in great shape
and have low body fat but still have a little pocket of dimpled fat
for example, on your butt or the backs of your thighs.

Building muscle while losing fat (and the fat loss part is key -- you have to have it to lose) can help minimize the appearance of cellulite;
cellulite-specific creams and lotions can also help minimize the look of dimpled skin (though they can't do anything about the trapped fat beneath)

Personal note:

I'ma health freak (if you don't know already), read articles daily, majority on health. 

And just wanna share some stuff I learnt with you guys

Hope you all learnt something new too! :)

Take Care, Kylie.