Is fat a cell?

Although no one wants to have too much fat on their body, everyone should have a certain amount of fat in their body. Because the main function of fat in the human body is to store heat energy, if a person has too little fat in his body, he will easily feel cold. However, if a person has too much fat in his body, he will become obese. But some people may wonder whether fat belongs to cells?

The fat we usually talk about is actually the fat tissue in the human body, which is mainly divided into two types: white adipose tissue (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT). WAT is the common fat we know, also known as unilocular cells, which is a storage cell. BAT is mainly found in the head and neck. It is a metabolic cell, also known as baby fat, which is used to generate heat.

Now that we know about adipose tissue, let’s understand how it makes us gain or lose weight!

1. Fat Cells

The adipose tissue in the human body is composed of individual fat cells (adipocytes). Each cell stores a large amount of fat. The diameter of a fat cell can increase to about 20 times, and the volume of the entire cell can increase to 1000 times. Such size changes are very amazing. In this way, fat gathers in our internal organs and under the skin like foam. People of normal weight have about 1 to 3 billion fat cells, but obese people can have up to 10 billion fat cells.

Kirsty Spalding from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that fat cells only grow during childhood and adolescence under the age of 20, and then maintain a relatively constant number. However, the number has no absolute correlation with obesity, but is closely related to whether the diameter of the fat cells increases. This means that if you want to lose weight, you have to reduce the diameter of the fat cells, not make the fat cells disappear.

2 Genes

The statement that "obesity is hereditary" is true. According to a survey conducted by Weightwatchers, an American weight loss company, if both parents are of normal body shape, the possibility of the next generation becoming obese is only 20%. If one of them is overweight, the possibility increases to 40%, but if both parents are overweight, the possibility increases to 80%. In addition, the eating habits of the parents will also affect the children. Therefore, if children do not control their diet and the increase in the number of fat cells during adolescence, the excessive fat cells will follow you for a lifetime, and it will become more difficult to lose fat at this time. Some people lose fat slower than others due to genetic factors. At this time, don't give up on losing fat, otherwise you may really be fat for the rest of your life!

3. Eating habits

The genetic genes mentioned above only account for about 1/4~1/3 of the impact on fat, and the remaining 3/4~2/3 comes from the influence of lifestyle and diet. That's why you often see children whose parents are fat are generally fat as well. The most important point, apart from the fact that we cannot change genes, also comes from common living and eating habits. So if there is a gene for obesity in your family, you really don't have to worry too much, because more than 50% of the decision-making power is in your hands. If you have the next generation, I believe you would not want them to be too fat! Therefore, developing healthy eating and exercise habits is not only good for yourself, but also for the next generation.