Theories Of Excess Weight Gain

By Katherine Crawford M.S.

The rising obesity epidemic is claimed to be a result of many factors-no single villain is to blame. Likewise, excess fat in your body can be the result of a wide variety of variables.

Now in an earnest attempt to figure all of this out, researchers around the globe have come up with many theories for the root cause of weight gain. And although these theories shouldn't be taken as final explanations, they do provide insights as to why you may be gaining weight.

So without further delay, here are potential explanations for why you're carrying extra weight:

1. Enzymes. Fat doesn't get stored in your body automatically. It needs the help of certain enzymes to get stored within your adipocytes. Who does the dirty work? Lipoprotein lipase. People who are seriously overweight tend to have more lipoprotein lipase than those who aren't.

2. Sheer number of fat cells. Your fat cells can increase in size, but they can also replicate and increase in number. Proponents of this idea believe that overweight individuals have a higher number of fat cells and therefore constantly struggle with losing weight.

3. The regulated point. According to this one, your body has a certain weight or set point that it tries very hard to stay at. Any effort on your part to change will be immediately thwarted by metabolic slow down.

4. Less calorie burning fat. The fat responsible for excess weight gain, white fat, mainly stores calories. Brown fat, however, mainly burns fat to release heat. Individuals with higher levels of body fat have less brown fat.

5. Thermic effect of food. Right after you eat, your body burns a little extra calories because of the thermic effect of food. This theory claims that lean people burn more right after eating in comparison to overweight people.

Now please don't get too caught up with these multiple explanations of weight gain. After all, you do have a lot of control on how your body looks. Consistent research has shown that lifestyle factors account for a very large portion of weight gain regardless of genetics. - 30241

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