Fat cells are for life

The amount of fat cells that you have in your body is determined during puberty. The number of fat cells stay the same, irrespective of how much your weight is. This is the result of a Swedish study.

It has been known for a longer time already that fat cells increase in size when you gain weight. The Swedish researchers have published this in Nature magazine for the first time that this is the primary functionality. The number of fat cells do not increase after puberty. Neither do they decrease, no matter how much weight you loose.

In the study people from different age groups were looked at. People who had lost a lot of weight were also included. After losing the weight the number of fat cells was still the same as before they lost the weight. The cells had only decreased in size.

The only way to decrease the number of fat cells is through liposuction. But if the lifestyle is not changed as well, the remaining fat cells will just increase in size. This way you would again put on the weight.

Not all researchers agree with this though. Professor Stephen O’Rahilly of the University of Cambridge says that some cells can also adapt to your weight. In principle these are not fat cells, but if you gain a lot of weight these cells will also store fat. This was probably overlooked in by the Swedish researchers.

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