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Adipose tissue, or “fat,” makes up 15-20% of the body and has two types: white and brown. It stores energy, generates heat, insulates the body, acts as a shock absorber, and produces hormones. Women tend to have a higher percentage of adipose tissue due to the energy demands of pregnancy.
Adipose tissue is a type of connective tissue that plays an important role in the functioning of the body. Better known simply as “fat,” this tissue makes up about 15-20% of the average person’s body weight. While many people have negative associations with deposits of fatty tissue on the body, people cannot thrive without it, although unusually high levels of this type of tissue have been linked to health problems.
There are two types of fatty tissue: white and brown. In addition to appearing in different colors, these types have slightly different functions and different levels of lipid storage for the body. Both types include adipocytes, cells designed for fat storage, and the cells can store different types of lipids in varying concentrations, with brown adipose tissue varying greatly in color and lipid composition. Under the microscope, even white and brown cells have slightly different physical structures.
One of the main roles of fat in the body is to provide stores of stored energy which are used to fuel the body between meals and during periods of fasting. Brown adipose tissue also generates heat, which keeps the body at a stable temperature. In people with insufficient amounts of fatty tissue, it can be difficult to keep the body functioning between meals, and low body temperatures are common as the body is unable to keep itself at a stable temperature.
The deposits found immediately under the skin also help insulate the body, because fat cells don’t conduct heat as easily as other types of cells do. This feature is used by many marine mammals to form a layer of blubber that keeps the animal warm in cold water. Fat also acts as a shock absorber to protect the body from heavy shocks, and organs are enveloped in layers of visceral fat that perform the same function.
This type of tissue is also linked to the production of some hormones. Deposits of this tissue form in different ways on different bodies, with women prone to deposits on the buttocks, thighs and breasts, while men tend to accumulate deposits around the stomach. In women, the percentage of adipose tissue tends to be higher, to prepare the body for the heavy energy demands of pregnancy. Pregnant women also tend to develop additional deposits during pregnancy to build up reserves for the fetus and for breastfeeding.
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