Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb here with another classic
Speaker 2: episode for you. In this one, we explore the biochemistry
Speaker 2: of burning fat. We should note at the top here
Speaker 2: that bodies are complicated and health is a lot more
Speaker 2: than a number on a scale. But when we do
Speaker 2: lose weight by burning fat, where does it go? Hey
Speaker 2: brain stuff, Lauren vogl Bomb here. For many of us humans,
Speaker 2: our body size and shape are things in flux from
Speaker 2: one month to the next, depending on a host of factors,
Speaker 2: both within and without our control. Our genes might be
Speaker 2: a little tighter or a little looser. Our question of
Speaker 2: the day is when we lose weight, where does that
Speaker 2: lost weight go? The short answer is that our bodies
Speaker 2: convert molecules in fat cells two usable forms of energy,
Speaker 2: thus shrinking the cells. But getting this to happen isn't
Speaker 2: just about sweating to the oldies or however you prefer.
Speaker 1: To work out. Understanding how our bodies perform this tummy
Speaker 1: trimming trick requires a little more detail. We know that
Speaker 1: weight loss hinges on burning calories. Calories are the measure
Speaker 1: of the potential energy in the food you eat in
Speaker 1: the form of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. If our bodies
Speaker 1: were cars, energy would be the gas that keeps everything running.
Speaker 1: Lounging in front of the television is like cruising the strip,
Speaker 1: while sprinting around a track is more like drag racing
Speaker 1: at maximum speeds. In short, more work means more energy
Speaker 1: is needed. The body uses some of the calories we
Speaker 1: ingest to digest that very food. Once the food is
Speaker 1: broken down into its respective parts of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins,
Speaker 1: it either uses the remaining energy or converts to fat
Speaker 1: for storage in fat cells. And as doctor who fans know,
Speaker 1: fat cells live in adipose tissue, which basically acts like
Speaker 1: an internal gas station storing away fuel reserves. To lose weight,
Speaker 1: you must burn more calories or of energy than you
Speaker 1: consume to start using up that fuel reserve. Essentially, if
Speaker 1: you're not ingesting enough calories to fuel your additional work,
Speaker 1: your body must pull from fat stores. According to the
Speaker 1: law of conservation of mass, matter is neither created nor destroyed,
Speaker 1: but it may alter its form through chemical reaction. Essentially,
Speaker 1: that tells us that while we lose mass in our
Speaker 1: bodies by burning up fat, it doesn't just disappear, it
Speaker 1: simply changes form. When we eat, the glucose and other
Speaker 1: sugars harnessed from carbohydrates are the first things our bodies
Speaker 1: use as fuel stores. The liver stores the glucose in
Speaker 1: the form of glycogen and releases it into the bloodstream
Speaker 1: as necessary to keep our bodies trucking a long Think
Speaker 1: of your blood stream as an interconnected conveyor belt that
Speaker 1: takes necessary nutrients to the body parts that need them.
Speaker 1: Once that glucose runs out, fat takes over. Harnessing energy
Speaker 1: by burning fat is referred to as catosis. It works
Speaker 1: like this. Hormones regulating our blood sugar levels activate an
Speaker 1: enzyme in the blood vessels of fat tissue called liepace.
Speaker 1: Liepace ignites fat cells to release macromolecules called triglycerides, which
Speaker 1: are what makes fat cells fat. Sutorides are made up
Speaker 1: of glycerool and three fatty acid chains. When they receive
Speaker 1: the signal from lipase to exit the fat cells, the
Speaker 1: triglyrides break up into their respective components and enter the
Speaker 1: bloodstream for use. The liver snatches up the glycrool to
Speaker 1: break it down for energy, and some of the fatty
Speaker 1: acids move to the muscles that can farm them for
Speaker 1: energy as well. The action of breaking down triglycerides into
Speaker 1: usable energy is called like polysis. Once the components of
Speaker 1: the glycerol and fatty acids are inside are muscle or
Speaker 1: liver cells, organelles called mitochondria shuffle and reshuffle those compounds
Speaker 1: to harness their potential energy, sort of like a furnace
Speaker 1: burns wood. The mitochondria break down and recombine those components
Speaker 1: of our fat cells and produce heat, water, carbon dioxide,
Speaker 1: and adenysine. Triphosphate or ATP. ATP hauls potential energy in
Speaker 1: its molecular bonds for use. When we exercise, like intercellular
Speaker 1: carb loading, the water exits our bodies as sweat and urine,
Speaker 1: and we exhale the carbon dioxide. Now that the body
Speaker 1: has really leaved fat cells of some glycerool and fatty acids,
Speaker 1: the cells get smaller and so sell by cell, our
Speaker 1: body shape changes. Today's episode is based on the article
Speaker 1: when we Lose weight, Where does the lost weight Go?
Speaker 1: On How Stuffworks dot Com, written by Kristin Conger. To
Speaker 1: hear more from Kristin, check.
Speaker 2: Out her podcast on Ladylife Brain Stuff is production of
Speaker 2: I heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and
Speaker 2: is produced by Tyler Klang.
Speaker 1: Four more podcasts my heart
Speaker 2: Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
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