HOW DOES FAT STORAGE WORK? EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW…

A lot of people have asked us, “How does fat storage work? How can I know if what I’m eating is being used as energy or turned into fat?”

Well, we decided to give a clear, concise explanation that everyone can understand!

Below, we’re going to walk you through a simplified, streamlined version of how the body turns the food you eat into fats. You’ll not only know how does fat storage work, but you’ll be able to know how to eat smart to maximize energy and minimize fat gain!

How Does Fat Storage Work?

Before we get into this important topic, I want to take a moment to highlight one thing: the difference between “dietary fat” and “stored fat”.

Dietary fat, as its name suggests, is fat that you consume through your diet. This is typically saturated fat, cholesterol, triglycerides, and other forms of fat from the meats, natural fats, nuts, and oils you eat. There are many forms of dietary fat, and most of the natural dietary fats are actually good for your health.

Stored fat, on the other hand, is fat cells that your body has accumulated over time. While some of the stored fat does come from dietary fat, a lot of it also comes from your dietary intake of carbohydrates and sugars.

You see, when you eat, your body breaks down the easily digestible sugars first, then moves on to the simple carbs and starches that require minimal effort (i.e.: fewer calories/less energy) to break down and utilize. They’re the quick-acting nutrients that are absorbed into your body first. Protein and dietary fats take longer, as do fiber-rich complex carbohydrates. But sugars and carbohydrates that contain no fiber are quickly absorbed into your body and turned into blood glucose by your liver.

Now, this blood glucose is important. After all, it’s your body’s primary energy source. Your body can typically store around 400-500 calories’ worth of blood glucose at a time. That means you’ve got roughly that amount of calories that can be burned for energy as you walk, talk, work, or exercise. If you’re active, you can burn through those calories in just a few hours—enough time for your body to absorb and transform the dietary fats and proteins.

However, for people who are inactive, that blood sugar is used much more slowly. Maybe you’ll burn fewer than 100 calories in a 2-hour period because you’re just sitting at your computer working or lounging on the couch watching TV. That means that if you keep putting more blood sugar into your body—you continue eating—your blood sugar levels are going to keep rising.

Our bodies have a mechanism to prevent excessively high glucose levels—a pancreatic hormone called insulin. When blood sugar levels get very high (either through a sudden rush of glucose from high-sugar foods or steady increase caused by high food intake), insulin triggers a “mass storage” event. It’s basically telling your body that it needs to temporarily store the blood sugar in a form that can be easily accessed and used when you’re going to do something very active that requires a lot of energy usage.

Thanks to insulin, our bodies store that form of glucose (called glycogen) in your fat cells, which are sort of its “storage repository” for both short- and long-term storage. It does this to ensure that you have enough energy for when you need it, and to prevent excessively high glucose levels.

But this is, in fact, one of the main causes behind increased fat storage. When you consistently eat more glucose-raising foods and fail to burn enough energy to prevent the fat storage, your fat stores continue to increase. Even if it’s just a few hundred calories a day, over time, that leads to visible growth of the fat cells—or, as you know it, “getting fatter”.

In many ways, dietary fats aren’t the biggest cause of your problems. Dietary fats take a lot more time and energy for your body to break down, so they are less likely to be stored in the fat cells just because there is less fat-derived energy available from the get-go. With easily digested carbs and sugars, however, there is a lot of energy made available all at once, which means it’s much more likely that you’ll top out and trigger the insulin release that causes your body to store fat.

In reality, the key to avoiding fat storage is actually pretty simple: avoid foods that raise your blood sugar levels rapidly. That means eating more lean meats, natural fats, complex carbohydrates, and fiber-rich foods. Do that, and you’ll be far less likely to have to worry about fat storage for years to come!

How Does Fat Storage Work? Learn More with Get Yoga Lean!

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You’ll start with the foundation of building a healthy life from the ground up, and learn how you can make small changes that will lead to HUGE benefits down the road. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, get in shape, or firm up your body, this course will guide you to your fitness and health destination the right way. No more crash dieting, no more suffering, just taking smart, effective steps to better health!