Fat Thighs Vs. A Fat Abdomen. Surprising results.

As I was perusing the internet today, I came across a strange observation made by Mayo Clinic Researchers that suggests that fat thighs are actually healthier than a fat abdomen. 


Weird, right?


Mayo Clinic Researchers fed volunteers ice cream, candy bars, and energy drinks to help the volunteers gain weight and studied the mechanisms of fat growth in the human body. The results were rather interesting. "'The cellular mechanisms are different," explains Michael Jensen, M.D., Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and lead author of the study. "The accumulation of abdominal fat happens largely by individual cells expanding in size, while with fat gain in the femoral or lower body, it's the number of fat cells that increases. So, different mechanism, different impact.'" (Science Daily) 


So. Weight gain that is below the belt line actually decreases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and strokes when compared to weight gain in the abdominal region. Not that unhealthy weight gain is advisable. Ever.


It is unfortunate that humans can't control where they gain weight. Because if this inconvenience, the circumference of a person's waistline should be monitored. A person can maintain a "healthy weight", but have a waistline that is putting their heart under unnecessary stress. According to Dr. Neli Stoyanova , a normal male waistline is 102 centimeters and a normal female waistline is 88 centimeters. 


What does normal even mean? I hate it when statistics are based on "normal humans". Normal humans don't even exist. 


Whoa. Alzheimer's has been connected to obesity, too. I'm no expert, but it has something to do with the inflammatory affect insulin, a hormone the body produces that controls the metabolism of glucose in the body, has on the brain. Susan Craft, PhD, a University of Washington researcher,   found 16 super brave volunteers that allowed Susan's research team to infuse them with insulin and sugar. This kept their sugar levels relatively normal while producing a high insulin level. The high insulin level resembles those whose bodies have created a high insulin resistance level, for example, people who are obese and have, or are at risk of getting, diabetes.  Then the research team gave the 16 volunteers spinal taps in order to study the spinal fluid. *Cringe!* 


The results were, in Craft's opinion, striking.


In the small span of time the insulin was being administered, the team found that the brains of the volunteers were swollen, the spinal fluid had abnormally large levels of  F2-isoprostane. 


According to the always helpful online-medical-dictionary.org, F2-isoprostane are "isoprostanes derived from the free radical oxidation of arachidonic acid. They occur through non-enzymatic oxidation of cell membrane lipids."


Alzheimer's patients have been observed to also have high brain levels of F2-isoprostane.


I do believe the following equation is now valid. Obesity → Insulin Resistance → Brain Inflammation → Alzheimer's. My goodness.


I went off on a tangent. But, a related tangent.


I kind of think that this whole study of fat thighs versus a fat abdomen is kind of redundant. Fat anything isn't healthy. One is just more unhealthy than the other. Nonetheless, now we understand the mechanisms that separate lower body fat cells from abdominal fat cells.

quod erat demonstrandum