Why does your body make you fat?

[GrandMasterK]

Instead of getting rid of the stuff you don't need, why does it store it away? Getting fat is an unhealthy thing, so why does our body just keep piling on the stuff that makes us fat and instead of getting it the hell out of there?

[Cloud]

Its just a biological "process".

 

Fats don't really harm your body

(so there's no reason to fight back (e.g. make antibodies).

 

Fats are actually essential for a healthy body. Its just in excess - its bad because if too much fat is stored and not enough is converted to ATP for energy - you become fat (in the literal sense).

 

To "get it the hell outta there" its needs to be burned (e.g. broken down and converted to energy). And there comes the dreaded part - EXERCISE.

[TimbaLanD]

I actually eat a lot but i cant seem to get FAT!!!, why is that then?

[SkepticLance]

We don't actually store every excess calorie as fat. The situation is more complex than that, and varies enormously from person to person. For example, a physically fit person does not seem to store as much. Some fat is just 'dumped'.

 

On the other hand, if we fail to exercise and eat too much, we will put on weight. How much is to a degree determined by our genetics. Older people tend to put on more than younger.

[Cloud]

I actually eat a lot but i cant seem to get FAT!!!, why is that then?

 

I have the same "problem." If you can call that a problem.

ever heard of metabolism.

 

It's too fast for us.

 

People who don't metabolish fat well have a large store of the stuff

(and so are fat/plump whatever - I think they call it 'big boned' these days)

[swansont]

You need to look at a broader view of the situation. Getting fat as a chronic problem in the population is a relatively recent phenomenon. A hunter-gatherer 20,000+ years ago needed to store fat when extra calories were available, because the food supply was not as regular or plentiful. We are a product of evolutionary pressures on that population (under those conditions) very much more so than on our current situation.

[TimbaLanD]

I have the same "problem." If you can call that a problem.

ever heard of metabolism.

 

It's too fast for us.

 

People who don't metabolish fat well have a large store of the stuff

(and so are fat/plump whatever - I think they call it 'big boned' these days)

 

Actually I do have a very high metabolic rate. My body is always vary warm plus I do a lot of activities but I just cant seem to put on any weight at all!! I have been 65kg’s for the past 6 or 7 years!!! I also tried eating junk food to put on but still no luck! I guess it’s in my genes!

[Super Genius]

My understanding is that when you consume more food then you actually need, the excess food and energy would be converted into fats which would be stored in various parts of the body such as the upper arm and the thighs. Although too much fats are harmful and can cause complications such as heart attacks, moderate amounts of fats can be useful as it can serve as a cushion when you fall or it can provide extra energy for you when you are participating in more vigorous activites.

[SkepticLance]

Swansont touched, correctly, on the real reason. Like all other biological phenomena, it can be related to evolution.

 

We evolved the capability to add fat to our bodies, because of the boom/bust nature of food gathering experienced by our hunter / gatherer ancestors. When times were good, they ate well. At those times, they stored excess calories as fat. When times were bad, they lived off their fat reserves. After all, they didn't have fridges!

 

Even today, when humans are put into a starvation situation, those who are fattest to begin with, survive longest.

 

It may also be worth noting that, in today's world, those with debilitating diseases, such as cancer, and who have a store of fat, survive longer.

[swansont]

And our pre-civilization ancestors seldom got into the situation where obesity-caused heart attacks and diabetes were an issue. They would rarely have gotten that fat, nor live long enough for the problems to manifest themselves.

[reor]

Er... uncontrollable fat storing is unhealthy. Our body usually tries best to keep a reasonable balance of substances. Getting obese is either caused by a malfunction of metabolism or by glutting oneself. The combination of flour, fat, salt and/or sugar is the worst we can do to our body, because flour is hardly digested. Food combining is important to let our body do its work correctly.

And don't forget to EXERCISE!

[biggs]

if we are a product of evolutionary pressures, does this mean that if eating habbits continue, in the distant future, we will eat the same fatty foods in an excess manner, but not get fat?

so that the amount is no longer an excess manner, and we'd all have to eat like that just to manage

[Phi for All]

if we are a product of evolutionary pressures' date=' does this mean that if eating habbits continue, in the distant future, we will eat the same fatty foods in an excess manner, but not get fat?

so that the amount is no longer an excess manner, and we'd all have to eat like that just to manage[/quote']Or it could mean that unhealthy eaters won't survive long enough to have children.

[reor]

i'd say the latter...

[SkepticLance]

if we are a product of evolutionary pressures, does this mean that if eating habbits continue, in the distant future, we will eat the same fatty foods in an excess manner, but not get fat?

so that the amount is no longer an excess manner, and we'd all have to eat like that just to manage

 

There is a theory relating to sexual selection that says, since we prefer slim people as mates, then those people will become more reproductively successful, and we will evolve towards slimness.

 

On the other hand ....

[badchad]

At some point though, you would think the body would recognize excess fat as being detrimental, and it would compensate.

 

Or as biggs implied, maybe this will happen over time as a selective pressure.

[dirtyamerica]

I agree with swansont's post regarding evolution.

 

In addition, fat is necessary for certain bodily processes including specific vitiamin absorption.

 

Some fat storage on the body isn't too harmful. I have read an article (sorry, can't remember the source) that suggested that being obese may be linked to specific types of cancer. So while a fat cancer patient may last longer(?) before wasting away, that same fat could have caused it in the first place.

[reor]

There even is a fat-only diet and it wouldn't be much surprising if evolution made us "fat-o-vores" (is there a proper name for that?), but that would take ages!

[swansont]

There is a theory relating to sexual selection that says' date=' since we prefer slim people as mates, then those people will become more reproductively successful, and we will evolve towards slimness.

[/quote']

 

But that's not always been the case, and is not the case for all cultures.