Can We Do Without Fat?
By Tom Herrin
Do you ever feel that you could really go without fat? Most of us see a lot of it when we look in the mirror. Even if we are actually pretty fit, we often see what we fear the most. Many of us see fat as something that is very undesirable, and we want to do everything possible to avoid having it. This may be a general misconception. It is true that excess body fat is often really obvious, and we may feel that if we could just eliminate it we would be much better off. In reality, fat serves a few good purposes as well as bad. Understanding it may help us a little.
Fat Is Necessary
No matter how much we dislike it, we have to have some fat. It does a lot more than most of us are aware. It is essential for our brains to function as they should. It must also be present around our nerves and bone marrow. It is around many internal organs and seems to serve to protect them from injury. Fat helps to regulate body temperature. It helps to store vitamins and regulate hormones. These are just a start. When we look at the list, it seems to be pretty long. We may even ask ourselves why we would not want fat.
Some Fat Is Really Bad
We all know that being overweight is a bad thing. The white fat that we tend to collect around our middle can indicate some potentially serious health issues. The more of this belly fat we have, the greater our risks of this. It may contribute to strokes, heart disease, arterial disease, and some organ failure. For many, it may be a step toward high blood pressure.
How Much Body Fat Do We Have?
At one time, we measured body fat by appearance or weight. As more technology has been developed for measuring this, it has become easier to come up with some kind of an estimate of how much we have. The simplest thing to use is a BMI scale. There are several kinds of these, and they are usually based on age, height, weight, and frame size. They can give a reading as a number. We can use this to determine whether we seem to be on target, overweight, or obese. They are not perfect, but they are pretty good at providing us with a glimpse of what kind of shape we are in regarding our body fat.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Longmont, Colo.