Fat, in moderation, helps immune system-scientists

[Guest guest]

Fat, in moderation, helps immune system-scientists

Last Updated: 2004-01-21 13:00:34 -0400 (Reuters Health)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Based on studies of pigs, researchers said on

Tuesday that fat helps fend off illness.

Besides keeping a body warmer, fat cells, or adipocytes, produce

hormone-like proteins in reaction to invading toxins, behaving much like

immune cells that fight disease.

" Adipocytes can be functional and beneficial without creating obesity, "

said Spurlock, an animal sciences professor at Purdue University

in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Writing in the American Journal of Physiology, Spurlock and colleagues

from the university's veterinary school said fat cells play a role in

helping insulin regulate blood sugar levels and can aid the immune

system's response to cancerous cells.

However, too much fat in pigs - and presumably their relatively close

cousins, humans - upsets the body's hormonal balance. As fat cells

accumulate an excess of fatty acids, called lipids, they secrete too

much of some biochemicals and too little of others, creating

abnormalities that can lead to diseases such as diabetes.

Foreseeing an advance in the fight against diabetes, cancer and other

illnesses, Spurlock said the goal is to find the biochemical triggers

for fat cells, immune cells, and the body's metabolism so they can be

manipulated.

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[Guest guest]

,

I'm so glad this has been published and I hope people realize that all of

these fat free diets aren't healthy. Eating the wrong fat is unhealthy, but

our bodies need fat!!! They've brainwashed America into believing that

eating fat makes you fat.

a

> Fat, in moderation, helps immune system-scientists

> Last Updated: 2004-01-21 13:00:34 -0400 (Reuters Health)

>

> CHICAGO (Reuters) - Based on studies of pigs, researchers said on

> Tuesday that fat helps fend off illness.

>

> Besides keeping a body warmer, fat cells, or adipocytes, produce

> hormone-like proteins in reaction to invading toxins, behaving much like

> immune cells that fight disease.

>

> " Adipocytes can be functional and beneficial without creating obesity, "

> said Spurlock, an animal sciences professor at Purdue University

> in West Lafayette, Indiana.

>

> Writing in the American Journal of Physiology, Spurlock and colleagues

> from the university's veterinary school said fat cells play a role in

> helping insulin regulate blood sugar levels and can aid the immune

> system's response to cancerous cells.

>

> However, too much fat in pigs - and presumably their relatively close

> cousins, humans - upsets the body's hormonal balance. As fat cells

> accumulate an excess of fatty acids, called lipids, they secrete too

> much of some biochemicals and too little of others, creating

> abnormalities that can lead to diseases such as diabetes.

>

> Foreseeing an advance in the fight against diabetes, cancer and other

> illnesses, Spurlock said the goal is to find the biochemical triggers

> for fat cells, immune cells, and the body's metabolism so they can be

> manipulated.

>

>

>

>

>

> I'll tell you where to go!

>

> Mayo Clinic in Rochester

> http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

>

> s Hopkins Medicine

> http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

>

>

>