Written by: Caressa Losier
It’s summertime, that means most of us have picked back up our strict diets, crazy workouts and other fat burning techniques to shed more winter weight. But have you ever thought to yourself what is fat exactly and why are we so desperate to get rid of it? Here are 20 fun facts about fat for you to think about before your next workout.
Fact #1: There are 3 different types of fat: white, brown, and beige. While white fat helps store excess energy, brown and beige both contribute to heating things up inside of our bodies to burn calories.
Fact #2: The average adult has around 50 billion fat cells.
Fact #3: 3,500 kcal = 1 lb. Did you know that there are only 3,500 calories in a pound?
Fact #4: Fat cells die at the rate of 150 per second.
Fact #5: Fat calories should only be 30% of your total daily intake.
Fact #6: Eating healthy fats can prevent weight gain. Monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the good ones found in peanut butter, almonds, flaxseeds, and walnuts. Eating these can lower bad cholesterol and reduce belly fat.
Fact #7: Fat provides more than twice the amount of usable energy than carbohydrates or protein.
Fact #8: 60 percent of the brain consists of fat. Our bodies heavily rely on fat for survival, the same way it depends on the brain in order to function.
Fact #9: Women need higher levels of fat than men. Fat is essential for reproduction, especially brain building fats like omega-3.
Fact #10: Fat cells can live for an average of 10 years!
Fact #11: Muscle weighs more than fat. So the more muscle you build, the easier it would become for you to burn calories and maintain your weight.
Fact #12: Liposuction cannot decrease weight related issues or risks. Subcutaneous tissue, or the visible fat stored beneath the skin works and acts independently from visceral tissue, the hidden fat cushions our organs, making it impossible to reduce your health issues with liposuction.
“Visceral and subcutaneous fat are like two separate organs, each with its own function,” says Osama Hamdy, a Director of the obesity clinic at the Joslin Diabetic Center who studies the cardiovascular benefits of short and long-term weight reduction.
Fact #13: One place that fat cells do not exist is in your eyelids.
Fact #14: The fat on your butt is healthier than belly fat. Belly fat is more responsive to stress hormone, cortisol, than butt fat – making it even more difficult to reduce.
Fact #15: Fat cells can grow up to 1,000 times their original size.
Fact #16: Healthy hair and skin are all thanks to fat. It helps absorb A,D,E and K vitamins through the bloodstream better.
Fact #17: Fat cells do not disappear, they only shrink. Working out and losing weight only shrinks your fat cells and doesn’t reduce the count.
Fact #18: We have a fixed number of fat cells once adulthood is reached. Overeating as a child can overextend your fat limit as an adult.
Fact #19: We turn over about 8% of our fat cells each year.
Fact #20: Most people gain at least 1 gram of extra body fat a day!
Now that you’re aware of these fun fat facts, share them with a friend or two this summer!