Omg FAT! We hate it…we hide it…we suck it in…and even try to suck it out…So shameful…so reviled…indicating lack self control…the flabs…magnifying the unforgivable sin of gluttony…Fat is so unloved, that a billion dollar industry has been thriving, with diets, gyms, drugs and surgeries, whose corner stone has been to annihilate this offensive FAT!
But…but…but…perhaps you didn’t know…FAT is as vital an ‘ORGAN’ in your body as your liver or heart. That’s right…I did call it ‘an organ’.
It’s your fat that enables puberty and ensures your reproductive organs function. Research shows that women with insufficient fat (including the so assumed ‘fittest’ of the lot…like dancers, athletes, sports stars and even models, who deliberately lose fat), have irregular menstrual cycles and even struggle to conceive.
Women use subcutaneous fat (fat that you find right under your skin), to convert the male hormone androgen to estrogen…too much biochemistry? Simply put – estrogen is a female hormone…vital to prepare the uterus for pregnancy…Women who are extremely lean with low subcutaneous fat even struggle with lactation post delivery. Subcutaneous fat is in fact the only source of estrogen for women post menopause. Your muscles or your bones or your immunity…fat is actively involved in building them. Fat is actively involved in wound healing and can even prolong your life.
FAT is so vital that a baby in the womb at 2 weeks (still an embryo) begins to make fat before any other systems begin to develop and function.
Every single cell in your body is surrounded by a membrane of fat…this is what ensures you capitalise on all your Vit A, D, E and K you consume. When I say every cell…it also includes your brain…guess what your brain cells are sheathed with?…good guess…FAT! The fat around the brain cells protects the brain from losing signals. Basically you need fat to even think!
Even men with too little fat begin to show loss of libido, reduced sperm count and sperm motility as well. Insufficient fat leads to delayed sexual maturity and even infertility.
If FAT was so valuable…then why is fat frowned upon? Why isn’t fat receiving the glamour status that a glowing skin or a healthy heart enjoy?
Up until late 1900s FAT was looked upon as just a mere blubber mass that helps with insulation and energy production…In fact a lot about how fat is greatly involved in so many vital functions of the body wasn’t a highlight until ‘obesity’ as a disease became a nationwide health concern across many countries. It really wasn’t until doctors and scientists realised that ‘Obesity’ was not just a result of mere over eating…and began to consider that there could be a lot more to the – ‘story of fat’ that was piling up in these patients…the secret life of fat perked interest when scientist and medical professionals began connecting the dots between obesity and Type2 diabetes…
A research that began as a race to find the wonder drug to eliminate fat was the very reason, startling discoveries about FAT was made…
It is because FAT is so vital, FAT fights hard to stay and stick…despite us trying so hard to get rid of it. It is for this very reason that despite working very hard to get ‘skinny’ you would have to double your effort to continue to ‘stay’ skinny.
FAT makes it all the more tougher for women than men to shed it…men can eat a lot more than women and will gain a lot less weight. Even at birth female infants have more fat than the male babies…
There is also good news…Women also burn more fat than men during workouts. Apparently women’s bodies are designed to reach out to fat to burn as energy during workouts more effortlessly and faster when compared to men.
But before you get all excited as a woman and rush to your gym…remember nature has intended fat to stick on…so women tend to eat more than men do, post workouts…
If you want to look in great shape yet keep all that vital fat here are a few recommendations:
- Gradually ease into 40 min workouts. Strength training thrice a week coupled with daily cardio is ideal. Always workout just below the point of getting breathless. The moment you get breathless, stop and wait to resume your normal breathing phase and then continue your workout. This will keep you constantly in the fat burning metabolic rate.
- Always track your body fat percentage.
- Any waist size above 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men requires attention to be shed. This is where excess visceral fat gets comfortable when you get comfortable on your couch.
- If you struggle with your targeted fat loss some wonderful natural therapies will help you jump start your Fat loss journey
a. Colon Hydrotherapy which will clean up your gut and enhance your body’s metabolic rate significantly.
b. Liver Detox will help your liver flush out fat stored in it and also enhance your liver’s ability to flush out more fat from your body. When your liver gets overwhelmed and is unable to filter fat from your blood, the fat finds cozy spots to settle down within your arteries and around many organs in your body where it isn’t meant to be. This can happen despite your best efforts at your workouts. A periodic liver flush at least once in 6 months is always recommended.
c. Ozone therapy has been proven to play a crucial role in weight loss especially for its lipolytic effect (the ability to break down fat cells). If you are currently struggling to workout due to excess weight, a few session of ozone sauna will greatly help with bringing you back on track.
d. IV nutritional therapies help clean up fat deposits from your arteries…this will help manage your LDL and Triglyceride levels naturally.
e. Bacteria and Virus that you get plagued with, add to the FAT that your body would retain in each cell. Remember Fat plays a key role in triggering your immune response…if you fall sick, more frequently, your body will store more fat to generate a more frequent and greater immune response. Shielding yourself with a stronger immune system is imperative, if you want to shed FAT. Periodically replenish your gut with beneficial microbiota (good bacteria). Make immune boosting supplementation and IV therapies for the same, a part of your lifestyle…quite like using make-up or heading to the beauty parlour.
- Diet is a very important aspect of managing FAT. Intermittent fasting is hugely beneficial in shifting your body to a fat burning metabolism. However it is important to ease into it. Fasting for long periods of time is easy for some while others struggle with it…if you are not comfortable with fasting for a long period of time, train your body to get comfortable with hunger with shorter intervals between meals, and then gradually increase the meals. If you are not comfortable with hunger, you will switch back to glucose burning metabolism – making the whole idea behind intermittent fasting futile. Plan your meals and quantity much before you break your fast…else you might end up overeating to satiate the hunger pangs post fasting. Instead of trying to cut off fat from your diet, try to include fats that are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and have the ability to increase your HDL levels.
For all those out there…looking into your mirror and frowning down at fat deposits take a moment and google the symptoms of ‘lipodystrophy’…a degenerative condition where fat doesn’t get stored as nature intended. Then take another moment to thank your fat ‘system’ for functioning well…quite evidently of course!
The author of this article Dr. Ashmita Boopathy Moturi, is a Doctor of
Naturopathy, a PhD. in Psychology and has completed her Masters in Medical Engineering. She is the founder of NineO2 Detox Center and the Director of Wishing Well Center for Integrative Medicine.