Fat Produces Proteins That Help Fight Illness
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Based on studies of pigs, researchers said Tuesday that fat helps fend off illness. Besides keeping a body warmer, fat cells, or adipocytes, produce hormone-like proteins in reaction to invading toxins, behaving much like immune cells that fight disease.
Biologist Michael Spurlock of Purdue University and his colleagues reported in the American Journal of Physiology that fat cells play a role in helping insulin regulate blood sugar levels and can aid the immune system’s response to cancerous cells.
However, too much fat upsets the body’s hormonal balance. The fat cells then secrete too much of some biochemicals and too little of others, creating abnormalities that can lead to diseases such as diabetes.
