# Where does the fat go? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095 "2007-02-21T15:33:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/21 "2007-02-21T18:28:41Z")
The February 2007 issue of Discover magazine has an [article on visceral fat](http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-07/features/visceral-fat/) (subscription needed), which is fat that’s stored in your abdominal cavity. It’s not bad in an aesthetic sense, but most of the health problems that come from being fat are actually associated with having too much visceral fat. One of the interesting tidbits they threw out is that there’s some kind of governance mechanism between subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) and visceral fat. In short, having a lot of subcutaneous fat makes it harder for you to gain visceral fat. Because liposuction just cuts out the subcutaneous fat, it screws up that mechanism and makes it easier for you to gain the unhealthy fat that’s more likely to kill you. Not a great choice. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/22 "2007-02-21T18:33:33Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Not sure if I’m being whooshed, but carbon dioxide is pretty much odourless at the concentrations you’d find in your breath. [/QUOTE] It was only a partial whoosh. I’m aware that CO2 is odorless, but I couldn’t help but think that there might be some other byproducts mixed in there as well. ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/23 "2007-02-22T00:34:20Z")
_Suppose one is in the process of losing weight. Via what route or mechanism does the fat leave your body?_ Don’t equate fat loss with weight loss. Depending on your nutrition and exercise routine, 30% or more of your weight loss being lean body mass wouldn’t be unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/24 "2007-02-22T00:36:49Z")
It is like asking, “Where does the candle go?” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/25 "2007-02-22T01:12:52Z")
Speaking of fat… Can the fat gathered from liposuction be used in cooking, and, if so, what would it taste like? Would it be more nutritious than other types of oil? ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/26 "2007-02-22T01:29:06Z")
[Well, yes.](http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21052655-13762,00.html) > [@](#): > > “BON APPETIT,” said Chilean artist Marco Evaristti as he presented his friends with his newest creation: meatballs cooked with fat from his own body, extracted by liposuction at $10,000 a can for ten I won’t be near the front of the line to try them! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/27 "2007-02-22T01:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=SpectBrain] [Well, yes.](http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21052655-13762,00.html) [/QUOTE] That is _impressively_ disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/28 "2007-02-22T01:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] That is _impressively_ disgusting. [/QUOTE] Yes, it is. Unsurpassed, I might even say. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/29 "2007-02-22T12:03:13Z")
[QUOTE=SpectBrain] [Well, yes.](http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21052655-13762,00.html) [/QUOTE] First rule of Fried Club… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/30 "2007-02-22T12:11:44Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Speaking of fat… Can the fat gathered from liposuction be used in cooking, and, if so, what would it taste like? Would it be more nutritious than other types of oil? [/QUOTE] If it was rendered to pure fat, I think it would be just like lard. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/31 "2007-02-22T12:30:59Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] The February 2007 issue of Discover magazine has an [article on visceral fat](http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-07/features/visceral-fat/) (subscription needed), which is fat that’s stored in your abdominal cavity. It’s not bad in an aesthetic sense, but most of the health problems that come from being fat are actually associated with having too much visceral fat. [/QUOTE] Did they say how one eliminates this type of fat? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/32 "2007-02-22T12:50:22Z")
Same as the other one. But visceral fat is necessary for a very important reason: it’s holding you in place and keeping your soft bits from being hurt when bumping against your bones (another “health enemy”, cholesterol, is a necessary component of cell walls - a body with zero cholesterol would sort of melt, a la 50s-Z-series-movies). Subcutaneous fat’s two functions are thermal insulation and energy storage. The body “eats up” subcutaneous fat preferentially to visceral fat; this does NOT mean that “you’re not burning visceral fat until you’ve finished getting defined muscles”. It means that, so long as “fat whose main purpose is to be burnt” is available in high proportions, your body will be burning more of that fat than of the “fat that acts to keep your kidneys from bruising.” ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/33 "2007-02-22T12:56:47Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] But visceral fat is necessary for a very important reason: it’s holding you in place and keeping your soft bits from being hurt when bumping against your bones [/QUOTE] Hm. That’s not what I’ve been reading [here](http://www.webmd.com/content/article/63/71859.htm) or [here](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=30641) It doesn’t sound at all like a beneficial little item but rather something to be wary of. Do you have cites that refute these claims? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/34 "2007-02-22T13:04:16Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] It doesn’t sound at all like a beneficial little item but rather something to be wary of. [/QUOTE] That’s not the way I read it. Your cites seem to be warning against excessive visceral fat. That does not mean all visceral fat is bad, or that no visceral fat is good. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/35 "2007-02-22T13:11:42Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Hm. That’s not what I’ve been reading [here](http://www.webmd.com/content/article/63/71859.htm) or [here](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=30641) It doesn’t sound at all like a beneficial little item but rather something to be wary of. Do you have cites that refute these claims? [/QUOTE] Go to your nearest university library and grab an anatomy book… my cites are my dissections. Kidneys are held in place by a blob of fat holding the suprarrenal glands as well; there’s nothing else holding them up. If it wasn’t for the blob of fat, they’d just go “bonk” against the bits below every time you stand up. “Excess”: the amount at which something that at lower doses was good becomes bad. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/36 "2007-02-22T13:13:25Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] That’s not the way I read it. Your cites seem to be warning against excessive visceral fat. That does not mean all visceral fat is bad, or that no visceral fat is good. [/QUOTE] Well hey, silly me. Here I thought a thread about losing fat might actually be dealing with the topic of excess fat that ought to be lost. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/37 "2007-02-22T13:16:33Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Well hey, silly me. Here I thought a thread about losing fat might actually be dealing with the topic of excess fat that ought to be lost. [/QUOTE] Visceral fat is not always excess fat. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/38 "2007-02-22T13:18:17Z")
It is, **QG** , but too many times people forget about the “excess” bit. That’s why I make it a point to remind people that those horrible monsters, Fat and Cholesterol, are necessary. Heck, your first link reads as if cholesterol was _always_ bad. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095/39 "2007-02-22T14:08:55Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] Go to your nearest university library and grab an anatomy book… my cites are my dissections. Kidneys are held in place by a blob of fat holding the suprarrenal glands as well; there’s nothing else holding them up. If it wasn’t for the blob of fat, they’d just go “bonk” against the bits below every time you stand up. [/QUOTE] What happens with bodybuilders, triathletes, and the like who regularly (if not permanently) reduce their body’s fat stores to super-low levels? Do they get lean enough to waste away the organ-supporting pockets of fat? And if so, do various organs in the viscera move more than their supposed to when they’re dieted down? Is there some other kind of discomfort? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-the-fat-go/393095.md?page=1)