Subcutaneous fat is that part of our body that many of us don’t like, but it usually gets a lot of attention. Whenever you are looking at the mirror and wondering if you’ve got fat or not, you are actually looking at your subcutaneous fat. It takes not only our attention but a lot of our endeavours too. But is this all about subcutaneous fat? What is its real role in the body?
Fat molecules or triglycerides are high-energy molecules present in our food or made within our bodies from sugars. Their main function is to release energy within the cells. However, there are times that body has more energy at hand than its needs. Evolution has taught us that energy is precious. Instead of losing them, our body stores the energy in the form of fat within a tissue called the fatty (or adipose) tissue.
Types of Fatty Tissue
All mammals, including humans, have two types of fatty tissue: brown fat and white fat. The two tissues are really different. White fat contains more fat molecules than brown fat. However, brown fat is more equipped with cellular parts that generate heat. The main function of brown fat is to produce heat. Many mammals, like bears, have a lot of them and use their brown fat during their winter-time sleep (hibernation) to keep themselves warm. In humans, newborns have some brown fat between their shoulder blades. For this reason, a newborn seldom shivers. As the child gets older, they lose most of their brown fat. An adult has just some scattered brown fat in areas like the neck, collarbone and spinal cord.
The next type of fatty tissue is white fat. Today, the main focus of attention as a risk factor for some diseases is white fat.
White fat is a form of specialized connective tissue, mostly composed of fat cells (adipocytes). The fat in these cells is mostly in the form of triglycerides. It is the molecule that our body uses to store energy. The triglyceride in our fatty tissue comes from our diet, or our body may make it when it wants to store energy.
Functions of white fat
As mentioned, the main function of white fat is energy storage. However, this tissue has other jobs too, like:
- It acts as an insulator.
- It has a significant endocrine function. Fatty tissue can secrete chemicals that affect our metabolism. Among these secretions are numerous molecules that promote the inflammatory process. Many of the adverse effects of obesity originate from the chronic inflammatory state that accompanies obesity.
Subcutaneous fat
Most of our white fat tissue is located beneath the skin. This is the subcutaneous fat and is part of what is called “the superficial fascia.” This fat shapes and forms our bodies. Remove the subcutaneous fat, and most of our bodies look almost alike. What you see in the mirror as your body is mostly determined by the amount and distribution of this fat. The distribution of this subcutaneous fat varies in men and women: In women, it is mostly located around hips and thighs and in men, it more shows up around the abdomen.
Subcutaneous fat vs Visceral fat
Not all white fat is in the subcutaneous tissue. Apart from this subcutaneous fat, we also have visceral fat. It is the adipose tissue around our organs. Most of it in the abdomen, but there are also some in the chest cavity and around the heart.
Although the subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues look similar under a microscope, they are different in their gene expression and secretory functions. Today, we know that the increase of visceral fat is much more harmful in causing cardiovascular disorders and metabolic abnormalities like type II diabetes.
The most accurate way to see and measure the visceral fat is to do a CT or an MRI scan. However, these methods are expensive. A simpler way is measuring the waist size. The fat that grows around the belly is not just the subcutaneous fat. It is composed of both visceral and subcutaneous fat. Therefore, belly fat is somehow representative of visceral fat. Accordingly, people who gather fat around the abdomen (apple-shaped) are more at risk of heart and metabolic diseases than those who collect fat around hips and legs (pear-shaped). You can check here to see how important is the waist size.
What looks promising is that, of the fat around the belly, that part related to visceral fat is better responsive to diet and exercise and is easier to remove.
