The topic of body fat seems to attract all the discussions - doctors will tell you to reduce it, gym instructors will show you the ways to reduce it, your friends may mock at you if you have enough of it and your clothes may reject you. This is what you can expect to hear if the topic of body fat pops up.
And this is not all- body fat has some more serious blames imposed on it. Medical science has blamed body fat for causing diabetes, heart diseases and even cancer. It's true, but the reverse case may not hold true.
A study conducted by an international consortium of researchers has found that a lower body fat percentage does not necessarily mean a lower risk for heart diseases and diabetes. Researchers have identified a gene which is associated with lower body fat, but the same has been found to be linked to a greater risk of heart diseases and diabetes type 2.
Researchers mentioned that people, especially men, may carry a particular type of gene, which may be linked with low body fat percentage and higher risk of heart diseases and diabetes at the same time. In other words, it is not obesity or being overweight which can increase the risk of these metabolic diseases.
Researchers studied the genomes of more than 75,000 people to examine the genes that decide on the percentage of body fat. A gene, referred to as IRS1, was found to be associated with low body fat percentage. More researches conducted on this gene revealed its association with unhealthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
This gene can only lower the fat deposition under the skin and people carrying this gene may not be able to store the less harmful subcutaneous fat and this fat gets deposited in risky areas that surround the organs. This visceral fat may stand in the way of proper functioning of these organs.
The study, headed by the Medical Research Council in the U.K. found that men are more susceptible to this risk in comparison to women. This is because, a man's body stores lesser fat and so they are more sensitive to the changes in fat distribution.
