Thursday, April 9, 2009

At least we are talking about fat, finally!

Mass dieting has been around since 1948 with the advent of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) and since then, we have been searching for the miracle cure for obesity. We want something that doesn't require any effort or change on our part and something that lasts forever.

Well, the next "miracle" cure is brown fat. Fat in our bodies comes in brown and white/yellow. Most of us are loaded up with the white/yellow fat that doesn't burn as much energy as the brown fat. Babies have lots of brown fat, but most of it is gone or inactive by adulthood. People with more brown fat tend to be leaner than people with little brown fat. Brown fat burns more energy in the cold, too, so turning down the thermostat may be another miracle cure.

Naturally, scientists are trying to figure out a way to put brown fat in a pill or potion, or maybe an injection so people can eat all the crappy food they want and still look like a Victoria Secret's model. If all you want to do is look good in your coffin, this just may be the ticket for you, though, you'll probably be dead before they get it on the market. You may want to find a few more baskets to put your eggs in just in case.

The good news is that we are actually talking about fat being "good" and even though the purpose is to find an expensive cure for obesity, we are heading in a better direction because fat is good and good for you. We need fat to function, especially saturated fat. If you stroll down memory lane, you'll find that we developed obesity while decreasing saturated fat and increasing our intake of vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fat). Saturated fat keeps our skin firm so we don't need expensive anti-aging creams, it is incorporated into the lining of the lungs to help prevent asthma and allergies, it is the main fuel source for the heart and it is the building blocks for all the important hormones in the body like estrogen and testosterone.

We need fat; good, healthy saturated fat. If we eat saturated fat, we won't have to worry about how much or how little brown fat we have under our skin and we won't have to freeze to death to lose weight, either.

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