Fat Cell Q&A
Radioactive carbon dating shows that we have the same number of fat cells throughout our adult life. When we gain or lose weight, they just get skinnier and fatter along with us.
What this says to me is that the number of fat cells don't have that much to do with weight. I was a thin 18 year old. I weighed 105. At 47, I weighed 156. Now, I weigh 122. Same number of fat cells. Someone who is starved and emaciated still has those fat cells.
I wonder if the tendency to store fat in various areas of your body depends on the number of fat cells in that area. Or, do some of your fat cells store more fat than others? That seems like the next logical question. Many women store a lot of their fat in their hips and thighs. Breasts obviously vary quite a lot. Why is that? Hormones? Or number of fat cells in those locations?
posted by Mary Robinson @ 1:38 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Well we know that consumption of trans fats mostly makes you put on fat around the abdomen.
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit06192006/health.asp
I wonder what implications this has for the hormones that fat cells secrete. Do people with more fat cells secrete more of these hormones because they have more "fat cell surface area"? I've read that people can create new fat cells when they gain a lot of weight - does this contribute to their difficulty with keeping it off, compared to someone who has never been overweight?
Things to ponder for now I guess.
I don't know if this answers your question, but that never stops me: Women who have had liposuction in the abdomen and hip area and continue to eat too much, regain a higher proportion of the weight in the chest area. An unintended breast augmentation.
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