NN+Fat+is+Good?+Article

Fat is doing us a favor...You may need to look up some of the answers on the internet or your book. (1) Liposuction suctions out adipose tissue. What is adipose tissue? **Adipose tissues are the fat cells that store energy.** (2) Define epidemic. **An epidemic is a widespread infection of a dangerous disease.** (3) Define obesity. **25 pounds above the desired weight of a person.** (4) How could we have an obesity epidemic? **If people continue to eat as much as they do, and if they do not exercise, using up the excess energy, then people will become obese and we will have an epidemic.** (5) What are the main obesity related illnesses? **Diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and liver disease.** (6) How does the liver protect the body from alcohol? **The liver detoxifies the blood of toxins like alcohol.** (7) Where does excess energy go? **Excess energy is stored in the adipose cells for later use when the stomach does not have any energy in the digestive track to use.** (8) Why do we have so much excess energy in our diet? **We have so much excess energy because we eat calories than we use, causing the left over energy, or excess energy, to be stored.** (9) If we didn't have adipose tissue where could we put the excess energy? Is this OK? **If there were no adipose tissues, the excess energy would be dumped in other organs such as the liver. The energy being stored in the liver is horrible for the liver and can cause liver failure.** (9) Humans have much more body fat than our closest relatives the chimpanzees. What is a possible evolutionary reason for this? **The excess energy is used to help supply our brains with energy, allowing us to have the higher brain functions that make us smarter than the chimpanzees.** (10) Adipocytes (Fat cells) are filled with fat called triglycerides. Describe the triglyceride structure and why it contains so much energy. **The triglyceride structure is mostly carbon and hydrogen combinations that generate a lot of energy.** (11) What happens to adipocytes when we gain weight? (a lot of weight) **They swell to take in more of the excess energy that we take in.** (12) Adipose tissue can be an endocrine gland too. Which hormone do adipocytes release, and how does this signal the body that it is time for puberty? **Leptin is the hormone released that when the adipose cells become dense enough, they release leptin and puberty begins.**