Does fat storage use energy

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Leo_King84
Leo_King84 Posts: 246 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've googled & googled but can't find an answer on this.

I'm curious if the fat we have stored uses energy just to exist.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    Well, I'm going to take an intuitive "guess." It is fuel, but it also has weight. It also has its own support structure - connective tissue, heavier bones, etc. So in that way, yes. It's more to carry so more energy is expended in day to day movement than if there were 100 pounds less to carry.
  • Leo_King84
    Leo_King84 Posts: 246 Member
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    That makes sense.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,121 Member
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    A larger body needs more energy - a lighter body needs less (as we lose weight our maintenance calories decrease if our activity level stays the same). So I think the answer is yes. Cmriverside mentions movement, but there's also more mass to keep at the appropriate body temperature, ensure blood flow,...
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
    edited February 2023
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    Simple answer......... yes
    because if you weren't eating enough the stored fat you use would be used as energy to support function.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,170 Member
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    Fat cells are metabolically active, so they burn calories. Reportedly a pound of fat burns around 2-3 calories per day at rest, a pound of muscle maybe more like 6-10 calories per day at rest. Estimates vary, but the numbers aren't mostly dramatic.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,923 Member
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    Yes it does. It helps maintain our metabolism 24/7 and is constantly being used for variable amounts of ATP (energy). Very low percentages of body fat are not healthy. Fun fact, lauric acid found in coconut oil is mostly metabolized by the liver which then converts it to immediate energy and doesn't get stored in adipose as triglycerides like other fats.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    neanderthin wrote: »
    Yes it does. It helps maintain our metabolism 24/7 and is constantly being used for variable amounts of ATP (energy). Very low percentages of body fat are not healthy. Fun fact, lauric acid found in coconut oil is mostly metabolized by the liver which then converts it to immediate energy and doesn't get stored in adipose as triglycerides like other fats.

    Uh… yeah I’ll bite 😁 So, what theoretically happens if someone were to switch all their oil consumption to coconut oil? Thanks in advance!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,086 Member
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    A body using lots of coconut oil for energy would have less need to use other fat intake for energy, thus any fat not coconut oil would be more likely to be stored as body fat.
  • Hiawassee88
    Hiawassee88 Posts: 35,754 Member
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    Brown fat cells for the WIN.
    https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/pages/2021-10-27-sweet-how-glycogen-is-linked-to-heat-generation-in-fat-cells.aspx#:~:text=In recent years, there has,2 diabetes and other conditions.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,923 Member
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    MelodyandBarbells wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Yes it does. It helps maintain our metabolism 24/7 and is constantly being used for variable amounts of ATP (energy). Very low percentages of body fat are not healthy. Fun fact, lauric acid found in coconut oil is mostly metabolized by the liver which then converts it to immediate energy and doesn't get stored in adipose as triglycerides like other fats.

    Uh… yeah I’ll bite 😁 So, what theoretically happens if someone were to switch all their oil consumption to coconut oil? Thanks in advance!

    No idea, but probably not advisable or possible really and suspect consuming only one type of fatty acid of any description isn't something someone would want to do, and this was just a little info about Lauric acid. Cheers
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,170 Member
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    MelodyandBarbells wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Yes it does. It helps maintain our metabolism 24/7 and is constantly being used for variable amounts of ATP (energy). Very low percentages of body fat are not healthy. Fun fact, lauric acid found in coconut oil is mostly metabolized by the liver which then converts it to immediate energy and doesn't get stored in adipose as triglycerides like other fats.

    Uh… yeah I’ll bite 😁 So, what theoretically happens if someone were to switch all their oil consumption to coconut oil? Thanks in advance!

    It's not just lauric acid, IMU. It's just high in lauric acid.
    Coconut oil is composed of the fatty acids, caprylic acid C -8:0 (8%), capric acid, C-10:0,(7%), lauric acid C-12:0, (49%), myristic acid C-14:0(8%), palmitic acid C-16:0 (8%), stearic acid C-18:0 (2%), oleic acid C-18:1 (6%) and 2% of C-18:2 linoleic acid.

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5044790/

    But that's Ghanaian coconut oil, I guess. 😉😆

    Most of those are not essential fatty acids, IMU . . . for whatever that info is worth. 🤷‍♀️ Suspect the implication would be that getting all and only coconut oil as fat wouldn't be the greatest idea ever, but it would also be pretty hard to totally avoid fats from other sources while still eating food. 🤷‍♀️

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    MelodyandBarbells wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Yes it does. It helps maintain our metabolism 24/7 and is constantly being used for variable amounts of ATP (energy). Very low percentages of body fat are not healthy. Fun fact, lauric acid found in coconut oil is mostly metabolized by the liver which then converts it to immediate energy and doesn't get stored in adipose as triglycerides like other fats.

    Uh… yeah I’ll bite 😁 So, what theoretically happens if someone were to switch all their oil consumption to coconut oil? Thanks in advance!

    It's not just lauric acid, IMU. It's just high in lauric acid.
    Coconut oil is composed of the fatty acids, caprylic acid C -8:0 (8%), capric acid, C-10:0,(7%), lauric acid C-12:0, (49%), myristic acid C-14:0(8%), palmitic acid C-16:0 (8%), stearic acid C-18:0 (2%), oleic acid C-18:1 (6%) and 2% of C-18:2 linoleic acid.

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5044790/

    But that's Ghanaian coconut oil, I guess. 😉😆

    Most of those are not essential fatty acids, IMU . . . for whatever that info is worth. 🤷‍♀️ Suspect the implication would be that getting all and only coconut oil as fat wouldn't be the greatest idea ever, but it would also be pretty hard to totally avoid fats from other sources while still eating food. 🤷‍♀️

    Wow, what an interesting article as I happen to be a Nigerian (I live in Ohio) who never stopped eating palm oil despite the bad rap it seemed to be getting. And now to find out that at least some of it was financially motivated. “No, no don’t cultivate your local crop, import ours instead” 😏

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