What is Fat and Why is Too Much Dangerous to Your Health?

Years ago, it was thought that fat was a fairly lifeless substance; basically an oily storage unit. In more recent years, research has shown that fat cells are small factories, producing a variety of chemicals. In fact, body fat is very active, secreting hormones and various other substances that can have very harmful effects on our metabolism, leading to weight problems and other health issues.

Biologist are now suggesting that fat is an "endocrine organ," in that it is more like the thyroid and pituitary glands, which release hormones directly into the blood stream.

The problem with fat cells is that they have a huge capacity to reproduce themselves. When too many are produced, too many harmful chemicals are released into the body, contributing to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and some form of cancer.

At one time it was thought that the number of fat cells was genetically predetermined and could not increase after reaching maturity. However, research shows that fat cells can increase both in size and in number.

A healthy adult will have 25 to 30 billion fat calls but this can increase in certain circumstances, most noticeably when energy intake is greater than energy expenditure, i.e. over-eating or poor diet. When this occurs, the excess is stored as fat in the fat cell. When existing fat cells become full up, new fat cells will have to form to cope with the increased demand on storage.

Not only can the number of fat cells increase but they can be up to three times larger in an obese adult than in a healthy adult. Usually the number of fat cells in an adult remains roughly the same but where obesity occurs that number can rise to about 75 billion and in severe cases it can explode to 250 to 300 billion! It doesn't take an Einstein to see the huge health problems this causes.