Bread..looks suspiciously like fat cells…

Q: Is it true that I’m stuck with the fat cells I have? Or is there some way I can lose them?

A: No, you’re not stuck: You can shed fat cells, but you won’t find it to be a stroll in the park. When we gain weight as adults, we are mostly enlarging the fat cells we have instead of adding more. This process has a medical name: hypertrophic obesity. Reversing this type of weight gain requires shrinking the cells, but they don’t put up a huge fight when being shrunk from plus size back to normal.

While not exactly easy, this type of weight loss is more doable than reversing the other kind of obesity: hyperplastic.

When we quickly put on a lot of pounds in early childhood, at puberty, and sometimes even as adults, we can grow new fat cells. Known as hyperplastic obesity, it poses a daunting challenge. The only way to be thin if you have an excessive population of fat cells is to shrink them below normal size, which is where things get really tough.

The cells begin to produce less leptin, a hormone that signals the brain when you’re full. You’ll end up feeling ravenous all the time. If you find the will to lose more than 10 percent of your body weight (more than 20 pounds for someone who weighs 200), eventually you’ll induce a process called apoptosis—cell death. You could begin trimming your population of fat cells. Once you do, you’ll find that maintaining a lower weight gets easier. 

The verdict is in. I’m calling it. Two words that need to be separated in a rancorous divorce: fat and eat. As in, “I am so fat, I have to stop eating.” They get no visitation what.so.ever. It is THAT serious.

Here’s why. Last night I had dinner with Domestigal Sue, and that always promises two things: Sexiness and knowledge. Irresistible combo. I love that the naturally muscular Sue can spend time reading the NY Times while I sweat my days away at the gym like a real meat-head.

On our second round of sake she asked me if I’d heard about the stomach condom.
Ah, “the stomach what?” I shook my head side to side in disbelief. I coughed. Anyone looking at my fabulous self would have thought I was choking.

A condom for your stomach that will hold your food, instead of say, eating less. Grossly fascinating. But wait, there’s more. It is later removed through your mouth by a doctor.

The EndoBarrier™ is a gastrointestinal liner that acts as an impermeable barrier to prevent food from coming in contact with the wall of the intestine. This may have an effect on the patient's uptake of both nutrients and calories. It may also have a metabolic effect that is similar to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, which produces significant weight loss and resolution of type 2 diabetes. However, the EndoBarrier™ is placed and removed endoscopically. As with many endoscopic procedures, the EndoBarrier™ may provide a safer alternative with more rapid recovery and lower costs.

Why is this satisfactory? As obesity increasingly becomes the norm, society has grown too accepting. Perhaps what is lacking is the same thing that helped smokers lose their butts: a healthy dose of social stigma. If only there were more shame in being fat, maybe more people would be motivated to lose weight? I dunno. It’s just a thought.

Last week, a letter published in the Lancet noted that fat asses contribute more than their thinner compatriots to food scarcity and global warming, given that they eat more and require more transportation energy to move themselves around.

I went over my library, er, google and did some research. It rendered 386,000 results for “fat people cause global warming”.

In my opinion, the obese could use some blame, or responsibility, not a solution to be more of glutton. I mean, am I way off course here?