Lowering total number of fat cells

hroderick

I'd previously got some seemingly good information from this post:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10663833/cell-biology-questions
It made me sad that the reality was my genetics and early childhood development locked me into a lifetime with a lot of fat cells, be they full or empty, but OK I'll deal with my reality.

Now I find comfort in this article that says if you keep the fat off long enough, the numbers of fat cells really do fall. In layman terms, there is a fat cell life cycle and they go away at the end. I need to produce fewer (with a calorie deficit) than reach the end of their life cycle.
https://cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(12)00775-1.pdf

So perhaps the science isn't so settled as some think. And even though it has no effect on the big picture, I don't like thinking I have zillions of empty fat cells that will never go away.

rheddmobile

I had difficulty following the giant blocks of tiny text on the image you posted, but it's my understanding from reading elsewhere that adipose cells are replaced when they die, and previously obese people continue to replace all of them, they don't go away. I didn't see any information on the image that specifically contradicted that.