[Jacqui_D]

"1. Fat has different colors. When you think of fat, you most likely think of the white stuff on your tummy, hips and thighs that stores energy until you need it. But there's also brown fat....

"2. Not everybody has brown fat. However, brown fat almost never shows up in obese people, notes the New York Times, which is why researchers are investigating if the lack of brown fat causes obesity or whether their extra white body fat prevents them from activating their brown fat....

"3. Fat keeps us warm, and not just by insulating us. All fat cells -- not just brown ones -- can sense temperature directly, and they respond to cold by releasing their energy as heat, according to a 2013 study reported on by ScienceNOW....

"4. Exercise could change the behavior of your fat cells' DNA. The amount of fat your body carries is partly determined by genetics, but researchers at the Lund University Diabetes Centre in Sweden found that exercise could play a role in switching on or off certain genes that have to do with fat storage, reports the New York Times....

"5. Not all fat cells are created equal. Some obese people are metabolically healthy, while others have metabolic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels -- and it turns out you can see the difference on a cellular level....

"6. Human body fat is full of potential stem cells...And those stem cells are similar to the ones derived from embryos....

"7. Fat cells need sleep too. If you skimp on sleep, you might be hurting your body fat's ability to respond to insulin, which could lead to weight gain or diabetes down the road....

"8. Doctors are more concerned about the fat you can't see. Love handles, flabby forearms and double-chins; while these visible (and grab-able) signs of excess fat can be troubling, it's the visceral fat, or fat you can't see, that should be of more concern...."

Read the complete article, "8 Things You Didn't Know About Your Body Fat," by Anna Almendrala for more details: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...healthy-living.

[IanG]

For me, it came down to good fats versus bad fats.

Bad fats, such as saturated fats and trans fats, are guilty of the unhealthy things all fats have been blamed for—weight gain, clogged arteries, and so forth. But good fats such as the monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-3s have the opposite effect. In fact, healthy fats play a huge role in helping you manage your moods, stay on top of your mental game, fight fatigue, and control your weight.

I eat a sh!t load of oily fish. And I look and feel great. I cannot believe it took me so f@cking long to realize this.

So, yeah, I eat canned fish with my salads every day.

[nelie]

I knew most of those except I just learned the stem cells thing the other day. Researchers were able to create liver cells from fat cells. They think they can do liposuction, create a new liver and do a transplant faster than waiting for an organ donor. Also since it'd be from your body, you probably wouldn't need immunosuppressants. Pretty fascinating stuff.

[Defining]

Thanks for sharing! There's actually some really cool research around about brown adipose tissue (ie. brown fat), and how it could actually act as a thermogenic stabilizer in adults, not just in infants. And there are a few studies on hormones released during exercise that might actually activate BAT to increase 'white fat' burning even further! This is all mostly either on the cellular or rat-study phase, but it's promising.

Very cool.

I've seen weight loss shows where they show the underlying fat in people. Especially liver fat. And these were people in much better shape than I was. Perhaps I am close to them now. But scary and motivating.

And I am all for research at the cellular level. But the obesity explosion happened way too fast for diet (and the processed food onslaught by exploitative companies) and exercise habits not to be the main causes. People vary though and the more good science the better.

Thanks for sharing.

[3fcuser291505109]

Originally Posted by IanG

For me, it came down to good fats versus bad fats.

Bad fats, such as saturated fats and trans fats, are guilty of the unhealthy things all fats have been blamed for—weight gain, clogged arteries, and so forth. But good fats such as the monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-3s have the opposite effect. In fact, healthy fats play a huge role in helping you manage your moods, stay on top of your mental game, fight fatigue, and control your weight.

I eat a sh!t load of oily fish. And I look and feel great. I cannot believe it took me so f@cking long to realize this.

So, yeah, I eat canned fish with my salads every day.

Ian i tried some really good canned salmon, was surprised at how good it was, Chicken of the Sea Red Salmon, and i know salmon isn't esp low calorie but yikes over 100 cals per serving in the can and the can had SEVEN servings and i could have easily used the entire can on my salad Maybe i'll just use half instead of my usual grilled chicken breast which is probably roughly the same amount i would hazard to guess. Wouldn't make much of a salad.

IDK how much that salmon was as it was given to me, hopefully not much, can't afford it.