Decoding Body Fat

Isn't food amazing? I love how food tastes so incredibly good, how the flavors combine, and how our body knows exactly what to do with it. I also love how food brings people together, how it provides pleasure and emotional benefits, and how it fuels the body. But food is even more than all of this, because food also communicates with the body and is the key to the building blocks that create our brain (through fats & proteins), influences our thoughts, affects our moods, and it shapes how we look. When you break it down, the food that we eat provides the body with "information" and controls everything from metabolic processes, hormone production, gene expression, and your mood.

With everything that we eat, we are either helping the body to thrive, or we are sending it into a state of distress. In general, the body relies on carbohydrates for energy, proteins are the body's building blocks, and fats help to insulate us, provide energy storage, and protects our organs. There is so much being orchestrated within our bodies - the gut-brain axis sending signals back-and-forth, cells communicating with each other, neurons transmitting information throughout our bodies - there's a whole world within a world happening right inside of us! Within this whole world within a world concept, one region we come to is fats fascinating role within us. Not all fats are the same, and each type of fat within your body has a job to do.

Within your body, you have a few types of fat. The main types of fat cells are categorized as: white, brown, and beige. Then, these fat cells have a location that they typically are found in your body: subcutaneous fat (found just beneath the skin in the buttocks, abdomen, arms, and legs), visceral fat (surrounding and protecting your organs in the abdominal cavity), and essential fat (exactly what it sounds like, it's essential because this is the minimum required amount of fat that your body needs to function properly). While fat has gotten a bad rap in the past, fat is actually alive, can communicate, and is a connective tissue but is also considered an interactive organ in your endocrine system!

Fat likes to talk, and it communicates through hormone signals with other organs throughout your body and via your central nervous system (CNS). It helps to regulate your metabolism, keep you warm, and it is the very reason you are still alive! In fact, our cells would collapse without fats and we wouldn't be able to last very long. This is because fats help to shape our cells and hold them in place. Fats (aka lipids) are also the body's primary form of long-term energy storage, organ protection, regulates our body temperature, and is very important for brain and nervous system functioning. This being said, not all fat is built the same way and there can be some confusion as to how much body fat to maintain. This is where we start to decode and break it down into simple terms.

First, let's get back to the white, brown, and beige fat and explain what's happening within these. White fat (aka white adipose tissue) is linked to what we were talking about above: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. White fat is the most abundant fat found in our bodies. It shows up as subcutaneous fat and visceral fat and stores energy and provides insulation. While it can be good to have some white fat, if we eat in excess, it gets stored and shows up around our bellies, glutes, arms, legs, and more. Subcutaneous fat is the fat that you can pinch and has that 'squishy' feel (and this is what some fitness trainers use calipers for when measuring body fat). Visceral fat sits just underneath your abdomen and is not squishy, but rather, it is firm. It is not easily seen or felt and it provides a layer around our internal organs.

Next, we get into brown fat. While white adipose tissue (white fat) stores energy, brown adipose tissue (brown fat) burns fat and calories to generate heat (aka thermogenesis). If you've ever seen a baby, you know how cute they look with all of that extra around them! That's brown adipose tissue and babies in particular need this to survive by generating heat and preventing hypothermia. This is because babies cannot regulate their own temperature effectively, so they are born with brown fat to help them survive. Getting back to our point, brown adipose tissue is a focal point of research for its ability to burn energy. One way brown fat burns energy is by metabolizing energy from fat and sugar to produce heat in a process labeled as cold exposure. Brown fat in adults is primarily located in the upper back, neck, shoulders, and chest.

The third category is beige fat, which is interesting because it didn't quite make the cut to be white fat or brown fat, and it has the ability to adapt and act as both! Beige fat cells start out as white fat cells and then under certain conditions, it can shift. It has the energy storing properties of white fat, and the energy burning properties of brown fat. It also has the potential to help the body regulate blood sugar, burn calories, and can help improve the metabolism. Beige fat can be activated with cold exposure and potentially through diet.

All of this being said, fat is essential to the body for heat regulation, protects your vital organs, holds your cells together, is necessary for your brain to think, and helps to improve communication between neurons. In excess, fat gets stored which can lead to weight gain and obesity. In turn, this can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, metabolic disorders, brain fog, and increased blood pressure. The goal is to have a quality of life that you feel is worth living! One where you can engage with life in such a way that you feel autonomy, self-efficacy, purpose, and where you feel good in your own skin!

If you would like some guidance, that's what we do here at NeXXus Prime. We have an ongoing, supportive class on Saturday evenings at 6pm MST (8pm ET) Holistic Wellness, where it takes a whole-body approach as we discuss body fat, nutrition tips, how to put a meal together, the role of macrobiotics in your diet, exercise, creating new habits, how to give your microbiome the support it needs, and more! If you would like to join us, please reach out: xaviazenith@nexxusprime.com and we can help you join via Zoom (online). In the meanwhile, I am wishing you great clarity and happiness on your journey!

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