Importance of fat:
Fat or adipose tissue is a normal part of body composition that serves a multitude of functions in our bodies, some of the main roles of fat are energy storage from the ingested lipids in our diets to give the body energy when it is needed ,it regulates body temperature, it balances blood sugar and stores important vitamins like vitamins A, D, E ,K ,it also cushions all of our inner organs to keep them in place and protects them from trauma.
In recent years adipose tissue was also found to be an important hormone-secreting organ producing essential hormones that control body metabolism and reproductive ability as estrogen , leptin, cytokines, and adipokines which have been linked to chronic inflammation in the body and increasing the risk of having metabolic syndrome including insulin resistance , type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension ,cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis in order to avoid developing these diseases body fat has to be around a certain level and not exceed them to avoid being overweight or obese.
Types of body fat:
Generally speaking, there are two types of fat visceral and subcutaneous fat present in different body compartments and serve different functions.
∗ visceral fat: is the type of fat that is stored around your abdomen and around all the major organs like your liver, heart, pancreas, and kidneys and this type of fat is mostly bad for you and increases your risk of chronic diseases.
∗ subcutaneous fat: is the type of jiggly fat that is stored under your skin in your arms, thighs, belly, and buttocks which is mainly used as a way to indicate the amount of fat in your body and correlates to the amount of visceral fat present and is generally harder to lose.
Dangers of fat accumulation
Fat deposition around your main organs can lead to a plethora of diseases that are chronic and lower your quality of life drastically such as:
- Obesity
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- obstructive Sleep apnea
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Some cancers like prostate, breast, colorectal cancers
Foods that help you burn fat:
1) Salmon
Salmon is one of the fattest fish that you can add easily to your diet as they taste incredible and are full of health benefits with great content of protein and omega 3 fatty acids that promote fat burning and weight loss, salmon helps you reduce the level of inflammation and stress hormones like cortisol, it is also high on selenium one of the main minerals that affect thyroid health and the thyroid gland being the main controller of metabolism in the body it can augment your metabolic rate and help your burn more fat. So, adding any type of fatty fish to your diet twice a week can help improve your health and aid you in burning more fat.
