May 10, 2005

The body's use of fats

An interesting article in Medical News Today:
New fat is needed to clear old fat from the system
Where fat comes from determines whether the body can metabolize it effectively. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that the "old" fat stored in the body's peripheral tissues -- that is, around the belly, thighs or bottom -- can't be burned efficiently unless "new" fat is eaten in the diet or made in the liver.

The research team developed genetically engineered mice missing an important fat synthesizing enzyme in the liver. As a result, the mice, called FASKOL mice (Fatty Acid Synthase KnockOut in Liver), could not produce new fatty acids in the liver. Because liver fatty acids are vital for maintaining normal sugar, fat and cholesterol metabolism, these mice must take in dietary fat to remain healthy.

Reporting in the May issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers say these mice developed fatty liver disease when placed on a zero fat diet.

"When we took dietary fat away from the FASKOL mice, their livers quickly filled with fat," says senior investigator Clay F. Semenkovich, M.D., professor of medicine and of cell biology and physiology. "Their 'old' fat stores mobilized to the liver, but their livers could not initiate fat burning, and the fat just accumulated. We concluded that to regulate fat burning, the liver needs 'new' fat."
The article goes into a lot more detail and provides links to the research behind this. This might be interesting to Diabetes sufferers as well as chronically obese people who do actually try to diet. Posted by DaveH at May 10, 2005 10:04 PM
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