Sunday, January 17, 2010

The Lessons of Fat Cells

Finding out the secret rules of fat cells is fascinating, but does it do you any good? The obvious hope (both for failed dieters and pharmaceutical executives) is that this understanding will lead to a drug that can control appetite or fat storage. In the meantime, you can learn a few things from your fat cells:

• Hold the line on childhood eating. No one knows why different people gain different numbers of fat cells throughout childhood and adolescence. However, there’s at least a possibility that environmental influences are at work, meaning early binging habits might tune the body to a lifetime of calorie craving. So if you’re a parent, make every effort to provide a varied, healthy diet for your child—one that’s rich in fruits and vegetables, and low in processed foods—and resist the temptation to teach “clean your plate” or “food is your reward” lessons. Even if your efforts don’t influence your child’s fat cell count, they’ll help set down lifetime habits that can defend against the worst dietary excesses.

• Expect diets to be difficult. Because a diet can’t change your fat-cell count, you’ll always have the potential to regain the weight you lose. To give yourself the best odds of staying slim, start by dieting small (with a goal of losing 10 pounds at a time), then concentrate on maintaining your weight and adjusting to a new lifestyle.

• Don’t moralize fat. While it’s a biological fact that fat people get fat by eating too much, none of us is completely in control of the powerful drive to eat. Those with a larger collection of fat cells just might start life with the odds stacked against them.

Source of Information : Oreilly - Your Body Missing Manual (08-2009)

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