How Many Fat Cells Do You Have?

The answer is – the same number you had when you were 15. Apparently fat cells do not multiply after puberty - as your body stores more fat, the number of fat cells remains the same. Each fat cell simply gets bigger.

Here’s another interesting finding, only recently reported. Dieting can slim your waistline, but you need exercise too, if you’re going to get the fat out of those subcutaneous fat cells. Forty-five obese women, average age 58, enrolled in one of three groups: diet to reduce intake by about 400 calories a day; diet plus a gentle exercise program (treadmill at 1-2 mph three times a week); and diet plus more rigorous exercise (treadmill at 3-4 mph three times a week).

Weight loss in the three groups averaged 10.4 kg, 10.9 kg, and 8.8 kg, respectively; the high exercise group lost less weight because they increased their lean tissue (i.e. muscle) mass. However, looking at the subcutaneous abdominal fat cells (obtained by a biopsy needle), it was found that the cells shrank very differently: an average of 0.8% shrinkage for the diet only group, compared with 18% and 17% shrinkage for the two exercise groups. The theory is that exercise mobilizes fats from the abdominal region, probably by producing changes in enzyme (lipase) levels.

It’s possible that decreased weight and waist size in the diet-only group came about by shrinkage in different fat cells – not the abdominal subcutaneous fat cells, but maybe those between muscle groups. That’s a somewhat unclear part of the research, so far. And the researchers didn’t measure visceral fat –the fat cells inside the abdominal cavity. This would certainly be very revealing. Nevertheless, the findings provide results that show how important exercise is, if you really want to get rid of that abdominal subcutaneous fat. And we all know how unsightly that is, as well as its involvement in increased mortality, don’t we?

Comments

[reggie]

thanks