Think you know a lot about fat? You probably do. But it’s a safe bet you have some misconceptions as well.
As a practice striving to provide the best plastic surgery NYC has to offer, we are experts when it comes to body fat. Whether we are removing, reshaping or transferring fat using liposuction, we understand how to banish it from unwanted areas and how to put fat to your advantage.
Test your body fat IQ by responding to these five statements:
1) A person gains and loses fat cells throughout their life.
No, you actually have all the fat cells you’ll ever have at birth. It’s the cells themselves that gain and lose volume as your weight changes. Think of them as empty balloons. When you pack on the pounds, those balloons fill up. And yes, they can stretch a great deal! (There’s an exception to this rule—when someone becomes morbidly obese, fat cells can actually multiply.)The way fat cells are distributed throughout your body is influenced by your gender and genetic makeup. If you and your husband gain weight, chances are he will develop a beer belly while you sport some new saddlebags. And if you have a girlfriend who’s experiencing weight gain, she may bemoan enlarged hips while her outer thighs remain in check.
2) You can reduce fatty areas with certain targeted exercises. If that doesn’t work, you can opt for liposuction.
Controlling calories and dropping weight is the only way to shrink your fat cells. There’s no such thing as “spot reducing,” or the fanciful notion of “turning fat into muscle.”
You can remove fat cells altogether through liposuction, which actually does target specific areas, but only subcutaneous (under the skin) fat is eligible. Fat that lies deep in the abdominal cavity—known as “visceral fat”—is not a target for liposuction.
3) After liposuction, fat can come back.
This is a tricky one. Let’s say you have liposuction to banish your saddlebags. Your plastic surgeon will not remove all the fat from the outer thighs—that would yield an unnatural, sunken look. If you gain a lot of weight after surgery, the remaining fat cells can increase in size and bring back your saddlebags to some extent. But it’s more likely that you would notice bulges in other areas such as love handles or larger breasts as those fat cells expand. Sometimes, when a patient elects liposuction he or she unconsciously feels they can eat more after surgery, with weight gain the inevitable result. The pounds have to go somewhere!
4) Fat is useless; you should cut body fat to a minimum.
Fat is not a bad thing, quite the contrary. Fat tissue is hormonally very active. It is also a major source of adult stem cells, which will become increasingly important in patient healthcare. Fat cells store energy we need for daily living. Deep inside our bodies, we need some fat to insulate and protect internal organs.
According to the American Council on Exercise, the ideal percentage of body fat for men is 6-24% while women should have 14-31%. The low end of those ranges applies to serious athletes—average people fall near the higher numbers.
5) The current obesity crisis is due to people consuming too much fat.
This statement is also false. According to Medical News Today, an online healthcare publishing company based in the U.K., fat intake among people in most countries has remained relatively stable over the past several decades. The website says excess carbohydrates are to blame for the uptick in the numbers of obese and overweight people.
Generally speaking, body fat gets a bad rap. In addition to its role in good health, fat plays a big part in creating the attractive curves of the female body. Even men need some measure of fat to maintain masculine body contours.
But too much fat is not good for your body’s function or form. If you want to know more about where you stand in terms of your own body fat, consult your primary care physician. If you are interested in addressing love handles, tummy bulges or saddlebags, come in for a liposuction consultation with us.
