SR November 2015
23
SR
Health News
Barb Green, Parish Nurse
Milton, WI
Fat is an organ that can help or harm your health.
Everyone has fat; we need it to survive. The trick is
understanding the difference between the kinds of fat
and keeping them in balance with diet, exercise and
common sense.
Subcutaneous fat lies directly underneath the skin. It
stores energy and provides essential padding. It also
generates adiponectin, a hormone that helps regulate
insulin production. The more fat, the less adiponectin
produced, which causes the body to have trouble regu-
lating insulin, increasing the risk of heart disease and
diabetes. Blast it off by cutting calories and exercising.
Even little bursts of energy help. If you already exercise
step it up, as a higher exertion level helps the body to
keep burning fat even after the activity ceases.
Visceral fat is nestled deep within the belly, padding
the spaces around the abdominal organs. You can’t feel
or grab it. It secretes inflammatory proteins called
cytokines that affect insulin production and increase
inflammation throughout the body raising the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease and earn-
ing the name “toxic fat.” It is usually visceral fat that we
add as we age. To reduce this type of fat, eat a balanced
diet with lean protein while controlling your carb and fat
intake. Aerobic exercise is the best workout.
Ectopic fat has the same metabolic properties as visceral
fat, but settles in the heart, liver, pancreas and muscles.
Most have only a few pounds but it is dangerous because
it’s inside vital organs increasing the risk of heart disease,
liver damage, and type 2 diabetes. The more you sit the
more likely you are to have this type of fat around your
heart. Stay active.
Brown fat is mainly around the neck, collarbone and
chest. Although it has been assumed that it is present
only in infants, helping to keep them warm, recent studies
reveal that some adults still have brown cells. It becomes
metabolically active when we’re exposed to cold temper-
atures, burning up energy. Because it generates heat, it
burns more calories at rest. To activate this fat, prepare
to shiver. Spending 10-15 minutes in temperatures below
60 degrees produces a hormone called irisin, which
appears to make white fat cells act like brown fat — so
keep the thermostat low. Brown fat may reduce the risk
of diabetes because it vacuums up excess glucose from
the blood.
The number of fat cells you have is set early. You don’t
get more of them when you gain weight. Instead, the fat
cells swell as triglycerides are stored in them and as the
fat cells swell so does the body. Boys tend to be born
with more fat cells in their belly, while girls are born with
more in their hips, thighs, and butt. Between the ages of
9 and 19 the volume of fat in girls more than doubles
due to a surge of estrogen. Post-pregnancy fat is hard to
get rid of because it’s reserve storage for the demands
of breast feeding. The body is hardwired to hold onto
some of these reserves until after you wean the baby.
Once women go through menopause, their fat storage
tends to mimic that of men’s. You may start sporting
what looks like a beer belly instead of storing fat around
the hips and thighs.
Three ways to burn flab faster include resistance training,
rest, and relaxation. A strength workout that incorporates
high intensity interval training will help burn calories and
fat stores at a higher rate than straight sets. Lack of sleep
can wreak havoc on hormones that control fat metabolism.
Finding ways to relax may reduce cortisol levels (high levels
of the stress hormone are linked to belly fat). Some ex-
amples are yoga, prayer, meditating on God’s word, or
listening to hymns or praise songs. Fat, essential to our
health, may also cause us to be unhealthy. Once again
proper diet, exercise, rest and relaxation will keep us
whole.
Body Fat
