The simple answer is no.
Fat and its perception have changed through time. Particularly with the female figure, the idea of having a ‘plump’, ‘round’ body was a sign of health and fertility. Especially in the early stages of mankind, when food was mostly hunted and therefore scarce, being fat meant being healthy and beautiful. As civilisations developed and grew the concept of being fat continued in the female sphere, but fat men were not seen favourable mainly because that meant that he was not good for labour or fighting wars.
As society continued its progress the image of a slimmer body, especially in women started to change closer to the mid-twentieth century, especially with the advancement of medicine which started relating weight to health issues.
Nowadays enormous strides have been done in figuring out what a healthy body should be and ways of how to maintain that body. Unfortunately in this age of social media pressure and image sensitivity the perception of what looks good can become distorted.
Personally there are three main essential factors to keep in mind towards staying healthy.
- Having a varied diet made up of whole, natural foods making sure to consume one’s dietary needs of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and fibre, and avoiding as much as possible processed elements
- Regular exercise. Nowadays the availability of endless forms of recreational sports and fitness ideologies eliminates the excuse of not being able to be and stay healthy
- Proper sleep will always play an important part in staying healthy since the body requires its resting time. Believe it or not sleeping time is essential for body regeneration, both physical and mental. Therefore get your zzz in order!
Basically fat can be divided into 6 types:
- Essential Fat: As the name goes it is the type of fat that is important for the proper function of the human body. Essential body fat is important with helping in body temperature regulation, vitamin absorption, production of fertility hormones, and many other essential roles. This type of fat is found all over the body and is usually not easily visible.
- Brown Fat: This type of fat is good. It is more commonly found in babies and children, but can still be found in adults, typically in the neck and shoulders. It is generated from essential fat and its primary role is to be used to maintain core body temperature. Because brown fat is not a storage fat, it’s used quickly when needed.
- White Fat: White fat is the body’s energy storage system. From this type of fat certain hormones and substances are produced essential for insulin management, blood sugar balance, and even managing hunger, managing growth hormones and cortisol. Generally white fat is a good type but having excess of it can produce imbalances in body composition and function. Excess white fat generally deposits on thighs, hips and abdomen.
- Beige Fat: A particular type of fat that is created when the body is put under physical stress or when cold temperatures are experienced. When the body comes under pressure, white cells will change, turning to beige cells, making them more easily burnt/used by the body for energy and core temperature management. Certain types of training like High interval training promote the ‘beiging’ of white fat cells thus promoting fat burning results.
- Subcutaneous Fat: Subcutaneous fat is the one you can ‘grab’. Found right under our skin it generally makes up around 90% of our overall body fat percentage, commonly found around thighs in women and the abdomen in men. Subcutaneous fat is more present in women since it is responsible for the production of the sex hormone estrogen, a major player in female fertility. Subcutaneous fat is essential as it acts as a cushion for muscles and assists in skin maintenance and protection but too much of it will lead to health complications. The body considers this type of fat as the emergency backup stores and therefore is very difficult to attack and reduce but with regular exercise and proper nutrition based on natural foods, reducing as much as possible refined carbohydrates and processed foods will burn off excess subcutaneous fat.
- Visceral Fat: From all types of fat this is probably the worst type. Visceral fat builds up in the abdominal area especially accumulating in between the organs. It is a known culprit in insulin resistance and high levels of this type will increase risk of certain cancers, dementia, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease among others. To beat this type of fat maintaining a healthy lifestyle is paramount. Have a nutrition regime based on whole foods with as much little processed foods as possible, regular exercise and good sleeping will keep visceral fat levels under control.
As you can see fat is not all bad. Everyone needs to have a certain amount of fat to help normal body functions and even ward off diseases. We live in a very comfortable era where one can get most things with the touch of a button or a quick drive. This reduces our activity levels and therefore our daily calorie consumption. The important thing is to not allow too much excess of fat build-up, especially the bad ones. That way one will stay healthy for longer and avoid as much as possible certain health complications as one grows older.
Until next time Stay strong, Stay Focused and Stay Safe!
Neville
