Scientists might be able to predict whether you will gain or lose weight from the size of your fat cells.
It has long been known that the size and number of our fat cells determine how much body fat we have. But exactly how they impact long-term changes in body weight has been less well understood.
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To explore these associations, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden measured the size and number of fat cells in the abdominal fat of 260 volunteers with an average BMI of 32. The participants were then followed up an average of 15 years later and their body weight, BMI and total body fat was again measured.
Interestingly, those who had larger fat cells tended to lose weight over the study period, while those with smaller fat cells were more likely to gain weight.
"We can only speculate as to why the size of a person's fat cells seems to predict their future weight," Peter Arner, a professor in the Department of Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet and one of the lead researchers on the study, said in a statement.
"Body weight decreases when energy expenditure exceeds intake and the body burns off fat to compensate. Our results suggest that the loss of large fat cells makes more of an impact on weight than the loss of small ones."
He added: "It is a bit like having a room filled to the top by a few large balloons or many small ones. It is easier to make empty space in the room by letting out air from the big rather than the small balloons.
"Conversely it is easier to fill up the room if many small balloons increase their volume a bit, as compared with having few large balloons and filling them up just a bit."
Having small fat cells isn't all bad, though. "It is well known that people with small fat cells have a better metabolic profile than people who are the same weight but have large fat cells," Arner said.
"This means that if someone with small fat cells does gain weight, it may not raise their risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure as much as if they had large fat cells."
The researchers hope that their findings might help inform more personalized weight management strategies in the future.
"It could be of great clinical value to have information about fat cell size before starting a weight-management program," Arner said. "If it is the case that those with large fat cells find it easier to lose weight, those with smaller cells could be given extra support.
"Unfortunately, there isn't an easy way of measuring fat cell size at present—but it is something we are working on and we're close to coming up with a solution."
The results will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, Italy, from the 12 to 15 May.
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Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
