One thing that all modern human beings can understand is that it’s important to maintain a healthy weight. As an individual gains weight, that fat can play a role in a series of pathophysiological pathways that drive poor health and disease progression.
What that problem is will be the topic of this particular article. Only after we clearly understand what the problem is will I then attempt to address it.
I take the time to clearly establish the problem for one important reason: the inability to see the connection between fat accumulation and one’s health is a serious problem in today’s society that creates all sorts of its own problems:
- Psychological challenges as individuals battle weight gain over the years
- Physiological problems as individuals cycle through weight patterns, causing even poorer health in the process
As someone who considers it her task to help others become healthier, the last thing I want to do is cause more health problems. So, before diving into brainstorming solutions, we need to get the problem straight. (I’ll also just say, as any good engineer can tell you, the solution is not going to be found until we’ve taken the time to clearly understand the problem).
What is the problem?
The problem, simply, is one of the excess accumulation of fat within sub-systems supporting the body. These sub-systems include white adipose tissue, the body’s primary site of fat storage (which is what most individuals concern themselves with). These sub-systems also include:
- organs, such as the liver
- visceral fat, which is fat storage around our organs
- other tissues, such as skeletal muscle tissue
Note one key word in the above statement: excess.
The problem is not that fat accumulates. Fat accumulation is normal and healthy.
The problem is that fat accumulates in excess.
Now, of course, that is a general statement and you may be thinking it doesn’t provide much use. What exactly is “excess.”
Well, answering that is a challenge, because what defines “excess” is going to vary depending on the tissue, the individual, and the dynamics at play within each pathway. Because of this, I will keep the statement general at this point (saving the details for later on).
Note, I have a video explaining one way to think about healthy fat balance vs. excess fat accumulation in subcutaneous adipose tissue (the body’s primary site of fat storage). You can access that video on my Instagram page at this link.
Why is excess fat accumulation a problem?
Fat storage is a normal part of a healthy body. Fat is continually being managed throughout various sub-systems as it is consumed, stored, converted from and into other fuel sources, and otherwise processed.
It’s important that fat is stored away as a part of these metabolic pathways. Stored fat provides use for the body in the following ways (among others):
- Fat storage in adipose tissue provides an energy reserve for the body
- Fat storage in skeletal muscle tissue provides easily accessible energy for longer endurance efforts
- Brown fat storage provides a means to heat the body internally
Once again (yes, I will keep saying it), fat storage is not the problem. The problem is that, for whatever reason, fat builds up in various sub-systems in excess.
This becomes a problem because excess fat accumulation:
- Can be a direct stress on the tissue in which it is stored
- Can play a role in pathophysiologic pathways as its damaging effects cascade into other biomolecules, cells, tissues, and organs
Excess Fat Accumlation can be a direct stress on the tissue
Tissues and organs are made up of cells that are physical and biochemical structures. As fat accumulates in excess, that fat can become a physical stress as it damages the structural integrity of the cell. For example, individual adipocytes are designed to expand to store more fat. But they can only expand so far before damage will be done to the structural integrity of that cell.
Moreover (and arguably more important) is that the fat becomes a biochemical stress. Fatty acids are reactive molecules, and when they aren’t managed effectively, then the by-products created during their processing can react with other biomolecules and cause damage.
Fortunately, nature designed the human body with this reactivity in mind, so as long as the system is balanced, then by-products of fatty acid metabolism can be safely taken care of. However, if fatty acids are building up in excess, then those by-products can also build-up in excess of the tissue’s ability to take care of them. They can then go on to react with other biomolecules, causing direct harm or initiating biochemical cascades (we’ll dive into this one up next).
Excess fat accumulation can play a role in pathophysiological pathways
As fat accumulates in a dysregulated pattern, its accumulation may surpass a threshold, after which point the tissue (or other sub-system) will recognize a threat. In response, a series of signals will proceed in an attempt to manage the fat accumulation.
For example, as adipose tissue expands beyond a healthy capacity, a pro-oxidative, pro-inflammatory cascade of events will unfold that serves as a sort of “help” signal. That signal can be heard locally (at the site of that particular tissue) and also globally (throughout the body) and leads to physiological changes that may not be healthy for the body (e.g. insulin resistance, chronic inflammation).
A final note on excess fat accumulation and its role in pathophysiologic pathways… Looking at the figures above, it’s important to note that this is not the only pathway through which system insulin resistance (and the rest of the cluster of metabolic dysfunction symptoms) arise. It could be the case that the pathophysiologic pathway is beginning in adipose tissue and cascading from there throughout the body. Or, it could be the case that system insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia is developing, which contributes to excess fat accumulation in adipose tissue.
Key Takeways
If you take nothing else away from this, please remember that it’s perfectly normal and healthy to store fat, and even patterns of fat storage that society may try to shame you for can actually be perfectly normal and healthy.
Our goal here is not to get ourselves to fit into a certain box that society has deemed acceptable.
Our goal is to determine if our bodies are operating with a healthy balance of fat storage or if our bodies are operating with pathophysiological pathways consisting of excess and/or irregular fat storage.
When fat is stored in “excess” (a relative and generic term that we will piece apart down the road) or if fat is being stored in irregular patterns (for example, if it’s building up in the liver), then this fat tends to play a role in driving pathophysiologic pathways. We saw an example of this pathway using adipose tissue in the figures above.
It is this latter case that we can benefit from understanding if we want to move forward in life making healthier decisions for our own bodies.