Why Body Fat Is Essential and Extreme Fat Loss Can Be Harmful
LONDON: Body fat is often portrayed negatively in diet and fitness culture, but medical experts say it performs several important functions and is essential for normal health.
Fat is involved in processes ranging from hormone production to temperature regulation and energy storage. While having excessive body fat can contribute to certain health problems, reducing body fat to extremely low levels can also create health risks.
Fat Has Important Functions
According to health experts, the body needs a certain amount of fat to function properly. Fat helps store energy, supports hormone-related processes and contributes to the protection and normal functioning of organs.
It also plays a role in maintaining body temperature and helping the body absorb certain vitamins.
Endocrinologist and University of Michigan professor Elif Oral has emphasised that fat has important biological functions and should not simply be viewed as something that needs to be eliminated.
Social Media and Extreme Body Goals
Fitness culture and social media have contributed to growing interest in achieving highly defined physiques. Online advice frequently promotes very low levels of body fat as an ideal appearance.
Health experts have raised concerns that this focus can encourage people to pursue increasingly restrictive or extreme approaches to changing their bodies.
The renewed popularity of very thin body ideals has also attracted attention amid the growing use of weight-loss medications, although individual health outcomes vary considerably.
Too Little Fat Can Also Be a Problem
The relationship between body fat and health is not simply about having as little as possible. Extremely low levels of body fat can interfere with normal biological processes and may affect areas such as hormone function, energy availability and overall health.
Experts therefore stress that healthy body composition is different for every individual and that pursuing extreme fat-loss targets is not an appropriate health goal.
Rather than focusing exclusively on appearance or a particular body-fat number, health decisions should consider nutrition, physical activity, energy levels and overall wellbeing.
