Know your body fat: The different types

There are five different types of fat found in the body: Structural fat, Metabolic fat,Fat-soluble vitamins, Transport fat and storage fat.

Other than the storage fat – that is what we need to control and reduce - all others are very much essential to life.

Structural fats surround almost every living cell in the body, protecting and reinforcing the cell membrane.

Metabolic fat is the fat, which once digested, is converted to hormones and enzymes. These fats maintain the body’s metabolism.

Fat-soluble vitamins are contained in our fat intake. These essential vitamins – A, D, E & K may be stored in the liver or the fat tissue.

Transport Fats, as the name suggests, transport absorbed fat from intestine to the storage sites through the bloodstream. These are a specific type of fat called Lipoprotein, which is a special form of Cholesterol. There are two of them – LDL and HDL. The LDL is the ‘bad’ guy, delivering Cholesterol to the storage sites in the body and HDL is the ‘good’ guy who collects this deposited Cholesterol and takes it back to the Liver, where it is broken down to produce bile.

Last comes the culprit, the storage fat. This fat is meant to supply the body with an abundant source of fuel. It also provides the body with insulation. The specific storage site for fat is in a specific tissue called the adipose tissue, found throughout the body. When there is too much of fat in the diet, it gets stored. This is the type of fat that any fitness program or fat loss program should aim to reduce, since we don’t need an excess of storage fat.

Now you know that indiscreet cutting out of fat from your food may not be a good idea at all! Aim for a sensible fat loss and more of it in my next post...