By Linda Geddes – NewScientist –
f you melted down the average UK adult, you’d find around 22 kilograms (48.5 pounds) of creamy yellow fat – equivalent to around 88 blocks of lard, enough to fill two-thirds of a small suitcase or cast into 446 dinner candles. Melted, it would easily be enough to paint a large bedroom in a translucent, waxy sheen.
It’s a queasy thought. For centuries, we’ve regarded body fat as an inert, lard-like substance. We carry it everywhere, and frequently despise it – yet this pale, oily tissue is undergoing a radical reassessment. Far from an inert nuisance, it is an organ – one that is alive and surprisingly communicative, has its own memory and is capable of influencing everything from appetite and metabolism to fertility, mood and immunity.
Fat, it turns out, isn’t one thing. It comes in white, brown, beige and even pink forms – each with distinct functions and found in different locations – and contains a mix of immune cells, nerves and blood vessels that contribute to its powers.
