“I have lost count of how many times I have heard in the last 24 years that I am in this industry, ignorant phrases such as “this treatment moves the fat to the surface, so that it can be broken down”, “the treatment melts the fat which is then eliminated by the urine”, “this treatment eliminates the fat cells and they never return” or “this treatment burns the fat” - even by cosmetic surgeons. No, fat is ever set on fire, melted or urinated and believe me fat cells always “return” if one overeats. This science paper sets the record straight, so you don’t have to take my word for it that all the above is nonsense.”
Where does fat go when you lose it?
What happens to fat and fat cells during weight loss | In summary
Does fat turn into muscle? When we lose weight does that fat end up in the toilet? Where does it go?
Turning fat into muscle?
Even aesthetic surgeons propagate urban myths about fat and fat tissue
How do we excrete the fat that we store in our body after “burning” it?
Where do fat cells go after losing weight?
When somebody loses weight, where does the fat go?
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What happens to fat and fat cells during weight loss | In summary
When we lose weight, fat does not turn into muscle, become faeces, or magically convert into energy. These are common myths, even among health and beauty professionals, including doctors. In reality, basic chemistry explains that fat is broken down through oxidation into carbon dioxide and water. he carbon dioxide is exhaled via the lungs, while the water is expelled through sweat and urine.
To metabolise 10 kg of fat, we need to inhale 29 kg of oxygen, which results in the exhalation of 28 kg of carbon dioxide and the release of 11 kg of water. Therefore, most fat is lost through breathing, not through toilet waste or miracle treatments.
Another myth is that we have a fixed number of fat cells, but in fact, fat cells are regenerated roughly every ten years. Fat cells also do not disappear when we lose weight—they simply shrink and remain in the body, ready to expand again if calorie intake exceeds expenditure.
Liposuction and non-surgical fat treatments do not remove fat permanently, nor do they release enough fat to harm the liver. These misunderstandings highlight the need for better education in science among professionals advising on weight loss.
Does fat turn into muscle? When we lose weight does that fat end up in the toilet? Where does it go?
These are common questions we are asked at the clinic almost every day and the usual answers found on the internet or given by health and beauty practitioners and even by cosmetic doctors (in fact, especially by cosmetic doctors) show a total lack of knowledge of important laws of physics and biology.
Find out the facts below.
Turning fat into muscle?
Given the importance of obesity these days, we would expect people who deal with it all day, i.e. doctors, dieticians and personal trainers to have a bit of a grasp of the science of adipose tissue.
So when scientist Ruben Meerman asked these professionals the question "When somebody loses weight, where does the fat go?", the vast majority of them answered that:
fat becomes energy (something that is only possible with nuclear fission, E=mc²)
fat becomes faeces (a pathological state)
fat becomes muscle (a biological impossibility)
…with all answers being patently wrong, of course.
In fact, basic, high school-level chemistry explains that whenever an organic chemical is "burned" (oxidised), it ends up as carbon dioxide and water. As simple as that.
So after fat is "burned" in the body and releasing energy - NOT becoming energy - it ends up as carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide is exhaled by the lungs and the water is expelled as sweat and urine.
That’s where the fat goes when we burn it to lose weight.
Nothing becomes faeces, nothing becomes muscle and - thank God - no nuclear reaction occurs in our bodies to transform matter (fat) into energy.
But hey, these are the professionals the public turns to for advice.
A sobering thought…
Even aesthetic surgeons propagate urban myths about fat and fat tissue
However, I am not surprised by such myths, given the fact that most doctors and aesthetic practitioners believe:
That we have a set number of fat cells in our body throughout our life. That’s what people used to believe in the 1970s. Fact: fat cells are replaced every ~10 years.
That liposuction permanently removes fat from a given area. Haven’t they seen all those repeat lipo operations on the same spot after a couple of years of “living the good life”? Fact: fat can regrow on areas treated with liposuction, no problem.
That fat released by non-surgical fat reduction or cellulite treatments is so much that it can actually harm the liver. Eyes 🙄 roll for the unforgivable ignorance, especially by cosmetic doctors. One would wish that a treatment can release SO MUCH FAT that it could potentially harm the liver. That would be a good problem to solve. Fact: the fat released by a non-surgical procedure in the bloodstream is insignificant in relation to dietary fat.
How do we excrete the fat that we store in our body after “burning” it?
Going back to the question of what happens to the fat after being burned with diet and/or exercise, Ruben Meerman actually did some calculations (basic high school chemistry) and found out that:
To completely burn 10 kg of fat we need to…
Breathe in 29 kg of oxygen
Breathe out 28 kg of carbon dioxide
Sweat away or urinate 11 kg of water
So in summary, we lose most of our fat through our lungs, in the form of carbon dioxide, and through our skin and urinary system, in the form of water.
Ruben has published these facts in the British Medical Journal and at the closing paragraph of his paper he stated:
"We recommend these concepts be included in secondary school science curriculums and university biochemistry courses to correct widespread misconceptions about weight loss."
I really couldn't agree more.
Guys, open a book and do some study…
Where do fat cells go after losing weight?
I guess if we were to ask the same people where do the fat cells that used to store the burned fat go, they would tell us the usual “Fat cells get broken down by the body’s natural processes and eliminated out of the body by the lymphatic system”, which is equally wrong (but that doesn’t stop me hearing it all the time).
The correct answer, of course, is: nowhere. Fat cells don’t go anywhere when we lose weight.
They stay put and wait for us to overeat and fill them up again. That’s why we put on weight on the same stubborn areas again and again, if we eat too much or move too little after we lose weight.
Just to get things straight.
When somebody loses weight, where does the fat go?
Research paper link: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g7257
Abstract: Considering the soaring overweight and obesity rates and strong interest in this topic, there is surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss among the general public and health professionals alike. We encountered widespread misconceptions about how humans lose weight among general practitioners, dietitians, and personal trainers (fig 1⇓). Most people believed that fat is converted to energy or heat, which violates the law of conservation of mass. We suspect this misconception is caused by the “energy in/energy out” mantra and the focus on energy production in university biochemistry courses. Other misconceptions were that the metabolites of fat are excreted in the faeces or converted to muscle. We present a novel calculation to show how we “lose weight.”
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