So if you operate by a “fat is fat and fat is bad” sort of mentality, it’s worth taking a few minutes to get to know your fats.

Here, experts (including a fat researcher!) share what you really need to know about the fat on your frame – especially if you’re trying to lose weight, get healthy, or live longer:

What it is: The fat you need to live. “Essential fats help regulate body temperature, vitamin absorption, cell structure, and hormones such as fertility hormones,” explains registered dietitian, Naureen Sajwani, a clinical dietitian at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “Essential fat is found in many parts of the body including nerve membranes, bone marrow, and membranes protecting body organs. Essential fat is neither subcutaneous nor visceral.” (Don’t worry, we’ll dive into subcutaneous and visceral fat later on.)

Read more: 6 bizarre things that can make you fat – other than food

What you need to know if you’re trying to lose weight: You cannot lose essential fat without compromising your health – and in a big way. For good health, women need 10 to 13 percent of their total weight to come from this essential fat, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Unfortunately, many women often strive for and achieve even lower body fat percentages through extreme dieting and exercising, putting their health at risk. That’s why many female figure competitors (who cut their body fat percentages to as low as 6 to 10 percent for competitions), often experience extreme hormonal dips and lose their periods. 

Dr J. Mark Brown, a lipid (a.k.a. fat) researcher with the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, also notes that too-low levels may also throw off the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar. In animal studies, mice with excessively low levels of body fat display symptoms of prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes, he says.

When trying to lose weight, remember to keep your health as your top priority. (And remember that plenty of pics on Instagram feature people with less-than-healthy body fat levels.) Make sure that your body fat percentage doesn’t go below 10 to 13%. Many scales—and even some fitness trackers—now come equipped to gauge your body fat.

What it is: The main form of fat cell in the body, this is what most people think of when they talk about fat. Also called “white adipocytes”, these fats cells are literally white, thanks to a low density of mitochondria (microscopic fat-burning power plants) and blood vessels, Brown says.

The cells store fat in the form of triglycerides, padding your energy reserves and body. “White fat is the largest energy backup in the body, and provides cushion for our organs and external body structure,” Sajwani says. “In addition, it produces leptin and a form of oestrogen which regulate hunger, and has receptors for hormones such as growth hormone, cortisol, and insulin.”

Read more: 7 fat-melting supplements you need to include in your diet

What you need to know if you’re trying to lose weight: While some white fat helps promote hormonal health and boosts levels of the feel-full hormone leptin, too-high levels of white fat can contribute to “leptin resistance”. When the body is faced with consistently high levels of leptin, as a result of excess white fat, the body becomes less sensitive to leptin’s effects. The result: a cycle of hunger and (white) fat gain.

Since the majority of your non-essential fat is white, you can tell if you’ve got too much or too little white fat by measuring your body fat percentage. In women, total body fat percentages of 16 to 23 are often considered good. Levels of more than 30 are typically classified as overweight.

What it is: “The polar opposite of white fat, brown fat burns rather than stores energy,” Brown says. Its energy-burning capabilities and brown colour are both due to the fact that it’s packed tight with mitochondria. Those mitochondria burn fatty acids to generate heat and help keep the body a balmy 98.6 degrees. Only proven to exist in humans in the past decade, brown fat levels are especially high in babies.

Read more: 5 basic rules you need to follow to erase belly fat

What you need to know if you’re trying to lose weight: The verdict is still out on whether or not you can convert white fat into brown adipose tissue (BAT), but it is clear that by increasing the activity of your body’s existing brown fat, you can boost your ability to burn kilojoules from white fat. Exactly how to do that is still unclear, though.

One Harvard study shows that hanging out in an environment cooled to 60.8 degrees for 10 days straight increases brown fat activity (although it didn’t increase actual levels of brown fat). While it’s likely a good idea to keep your home cool, especially while you sleep, don’t make yourself miserable. After all, researchers still have a lot of work to do to figure out how findings such as this can best be used to combat obesity, Brown says.

What it is: Beige fat looks and acts like a cross between white and brown fat, but research suggests that beige fat is its own unique cell type, rather than a midpoint on the white-to-brown spectrum, Brown says.

Fortunately, research also suggests that white fat can convert into beige fat. “The beige-ing of white fat is really the holy grail in anti-obesity therapeutics,” he says. “To turn white fat into beige fat would in theory make you leaner because you are burning fat and releasing it as heat.”

Read more: Blast fat fast with this 15-minute kickboxing workout

What you need to know if you’re trying to lose weight: Animal studies suggest that catecholamines, hormones released when you’re either stressed or cold, help jumpstart the process of converting white into beige fat, explains Brown, whose 2017 research identified a key enzyme that regulates the beige-ing of white fat. Brown notes that one particularly helpful stressor in the beige-ing of brown fat is believed to be exercise. During exercise, muscle secretes specialised proteins that may help turn your white fat beige. So get moving.

What it is: “Subcutaneous fat is the layer of fat found right underneath our skin,” Sajwani says. “About 90% of fat in our body is in the form of subcutaneous fat.” A combination of white, beige, and brown fat, and a certain amount of subcutaneous fat is healthy. But, again, too much of the white variety can spell trouble by throwing off hormone levels and sensitivity.

What you need to know if you’re trying to lose weight: The most common method of measuring subcutaneous fat levels is a skin-fold test in which a professional pinches your fat with calipers. It’s not exactly fun, but it’s not painful, and many gyms and healthcare professionals are trained to perform this test.

Read more: This is the best diet for losing fat and building muscle

In terms of lowering your levels, it’s all about kilojoules in versus kilojoules out. Sajwani recommends zeroing in on your nutrition (think: cut down on refined carbs and empty kilojoules) while also performing regular high-intensity exercise.

What it is: What your girlfriends might call “belly fat”, visceral fat is white fat that is stored within the abdominal cavity around a number of organs such as the liver, pancreas, heart, and intestines rather than right under your skin like subcutaneous fat.

“Researchers have found that visceral fat secretes a protein called retinol-binding protein 4, which has been shown to increase resistance to insulin, leading to glucose intolerance and Type 2 diabetes,” Sajwani says. “High visceral fat storage has also been linked to breast cancer, colorectal cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia.”

What you need to know if you’re trying to lose weight: In the fight against fat, this is enemy number one. “To gauge your visceral fat level, determine waist-to-hip ratio. First, take the circumference measurement of both your waist and your hips at their largest point. Next, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.

If the ratio is higher than 1.0 for men and 0.85 for women, then the amount of fat is considered excessive,” Sajwani says. Alternatively, you can just measure the circumference of your waist, says Dr Steven Wilson, a family medicine physician with Redlands Community Hospital in California. “A waist circumference greater than 88cm for a woman is considered abnormal and consistent with increase visceral body fat,” he says.

While visceral fat responds to the rules of kilojoule balance, just like subcutaneous fat does, research shows that it’s particularly sensitive to the inflammatory effects of processed foods, Wilson says.

Meanwhile, evidence shows that a diet rich in unrefined foods, protein, unsaturated fatty acids, whole grains, and fibre can significantly reduce visceral fat levels. As can getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. And one 2015 study found that strength training is more effective at preventing age-related increases in belly fat than cardio.

This article originally appeared on www.womenshealthsa.co.za.

Megan Flemmit

You don’t need a complicated belly fat weight-loss plan to shed kilograms. Instead, live by these seven simple and straightforward rules…

1. Read food labels

You should read food labels like you read your Facebook feed – closely. Then abide by the rule of five: If any food has any one of the five ingredients below as any one of the first five ingredients on the label, don’t let it near your mouth.

1. Simple sugars

2. Enriched, bleached, or refined flour (this means it’s stripped of its nutrients)

3. HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup – a four-letter word)

4. Saturated fat (four-legged animal fat, or palm or coconut oil)

5. Trans fat (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil)

Putting them into your body is like dunking your cellphone in a glass of water. It’ll cause your system to short out your hormones and send your body confusing messages about eating. When typical slightly overweight people eat sugar, they on average store 5% percent as ready energy to use later, metabolise 60%, and store a whopping 35% as fat that can be converted to energy later. Any guess as to where 50% of the sugar we consume comes from? HFCS in fat-free foods like salad dressings and regular soft drinks.

Read more: 6 regular foods you probably didn’t know could shrink your tummy

2. Choose unsaturated fat over saturated 

Meals high in saturated fat (that’s one of the ageing fats) produce lower levels of leptin than low-fat meals with the exact same kilojoules. That indicates you can increase your satiety and decrease hunger levels by avoiding saturated fats found in such sources as high-fat meats (like sausage), baked goods and whole-milk dairy products.

3. Quench your thirst (don’t feed it!)

The reason some people eat is because their satiety centres are begging for attention. But sometimes those appetite centres want things to quench thirst, not to fill the stomach. Thirst could be caused by hormones in the gut, or it could be a chemical response to eating; eating food increases the thickness of your blood, and your body senses the need to dilute it.

A great way to counteract your hormonal reaction to food is to make sure that your response to thirst activation doesn’t contain unnecessary, empty kilojoules – like the ones in soft drinks or alcohol. Your thirst centre doesn’t care whether it’s getting zero-kilojoule water or a mega-kilojoule frappe. So when you feel hungry, drink a glass or two of water first, to see if that’s really what your body wants!

Read more: Which is actually better for weight loss: diet or xxercise?

4. Limit your alcohol intake 

For weight loss, avoid drinking excessive alcohol, not solely because of its own kilojoules, but also because of the kilojoules it inspires you to consume later. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, so you end up feeling like you can eat anything and everything you see. Limiting yourself to one alcoholic drink a day has a protective effect on your arteries but could still cost you kilos, since it inhibits leptin.

5. Eat the right kind of carbs 

Eating a super-high-carb diet increases a protein called neuropeptide Y (NPY), which decreases your metabolism and increases your appetite. Ensure that less than 50% of your diet comes from carbohydrates, and that most of your carbs are complex, such as whole grains and vegetables (not processed snack foods and baked goods).

Read more: Here’s exactly how to use breakfast to lose weight

6. Have more sex

In any waist management plan, you can stay satisfied. Not in the form of a dripping double cheeseburger but in the form of safe, healthy, monogamous sex. Sex and hunger are regulated through the brain chemical NPY. Some have observed that having healthy sex could help you control your food intake; by satisfying one appetite centre, you seem to satisfy the other.

7. Get a step ahead of your cravings

There will be times when you can’t always control your hormone levels, and you feel hungrier than a lion on a bug-only diet. Develop a list of emergency foods to satisfy you when cravings get the best of you – things like a handful of nuts, pieces of fruit, cut-up vegetables, or even a little guacamole.

^{This article originally appeared on www.womenshealthsa.co.za.}

^{Image credits: iStock}

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The guide alerts people to internet trolls, but also highlights the positives of social media.

One in 20 people is being prescribed potentially addictive painkillers for too long with little benefit, says report.

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Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that causes scaling and inflammation.

Not only is this skin disease uncomfortable and unsightly, but now research has shown that it can be linked to overall bad health, leading to earlier death. 

According to the South African Medical Journal, 2% of people worldwide suffer from psoriasis, with two thirds of those cases being severe. According to statistics published in 2014, an estimated 1 million South Africans suffer from psoriasis. 

What’s more, people with severe cases of the skin disease psoriasis appeared to have almost double the risk of dying during a four-year study than people without the condition, research suggests.

The study was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

But the increased death rate was only seen in those with psoriasis affecting more than 10% of their body surface area. For those with less-severe disease, the risk of dying early was actually less than it was for people who didn’t have the skin condition.

                             ^{Psoriasis can appear on large areas of the skin, causing thick, scaly flakes and inflammation.}

Psoriasis can be linked to bad health

Dr Robert Kirsner, chair of dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that over the last decade or so, doctors have learned that people with psoriasis tend to be less healthy.

“They are overweight, have diabetes mellitus, smoke, drink and have high cholesterol,” he said.

“These factors – as well as the presence of psoriasis itself – increase their risk for vascular disease and other poor medical outcomes. As a result, they more often have heart attacks and strokes and more often die,” Kirsner said. He wasn’t involved in the current research, but did review the findings.

Important to control risk factors

Kirsner and study author Dr Megan Noe suggested that people with severe psoriasis talk with their doctor about treating their psoriasis and controlling risk factors that may contribute to a higher risk of early death, such as smoking, high cholesterol and diabetes.

It’s also important to note that it’s not clear from this study alone whether severe psoriasis actually causes a higher death rate, or if there’s just an association between those factors.

More likely to smoke and drink

The study included nearly 8 800 adults with psoriasis and almost 88 000 without the condition. The study participants were followed for about four years on average. Thye all lived in the United Kingdom. About half were women and the average age was 45. Those with psoriasis were more likely to smoke and to drink alcohol.

After the researchers adjusted their statistics so they wouldn’t be thrown off by factors such as smoking and diabetes, they found that those with the highest level of psoriasis – affecting more than 10% of their body surface – were nearly two times more likely to die over the period of the study.

About 12% of the psoriasis patients fell into the severe category, the researchers said.

When it comes to death rates, severe psoriasis is riskier than smoking and but less risky than diabetes, said Noe. She teaches clinical dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Linked to inflammation

People with less-severe psoriasis were slightly less likely to die than the general population. And, that held true even when the researchers took other risk factors into account, such as age, smoking status and weight.

There are theories, but not firm evidence, about why there’s a link between extreme psoriasis and higher death rates, Kirsner said. One theory is that psoriasis creates more inflammation – swelling – in the body, which hurts the arteries and veins.

It’s also possible that people with psoriasis already have body-wide inflammation that isn’t caused by the skin condition.

Social stigma

Another possibility is that the social stigma of psoriasis could contribute to mental conditions, such as depression, by making it harder for patients to do certain things, including finding a job, Noe suggested.

Should patients with extreme psoriasis be very worried about their condition? Kirsner said that in terms of a higher risk of premature death, “we know that worse psoriasis and having psoriasis longer are important, but the individual risk for any given patient is not clear.”

The researchers didn’t estimate average life span in this study.

Patients with psoriasis, especially severe psoriasis, should work with their doctors to treat the condition, reduce their cholesterol, stop smoking, lower their weight, control their blood sugar, exercise and take aspirin, Kirsner said. The American National Psoriasis Foundation recommends talking with your doctor about the risks and benefits of medications, such as aspirin, before taking them.

Noe said, “We have lots of very successful treatments, and the newer biologic medications work for most people.”

Treating psoriasis

However, Kirsner added, while “treatments likely matter, whether any treatment will help reduce risk is not clearly known.”

According to Health24, psoriasis is treated according to the severity of the outbreak. Treatment options include:

• Topical treatment
• Phototherapy
• Excimer laser
• Systemic treatment
• Biological drugs

^{Image credit: iStock}