What Causes Subcutaneous Fat?

Having subcutaneous fat depends on genetics as well as your lifestyle changes such as diet and physical activity. Those with a large amount of subcutaneous fat (under the skin) often have a large amount of visceral fat (around the organs).

What causes subcutaneous fat?

Everyone is born with some kind of subcutaneous fat. Aside from genetics and lifestyle changes, people typically have greater amounts of subcutaneous fat if they:

Eat more calories than they burn
Are sedentary
Have little muscle mass
Get little aerobic activity
Have diabetes
Are insulin resistant

Why do we have subcutaneous fat?

The top layer of your skin is the epidermis. The middle layer is the dermis. The deepest layer is Subcutaneous fat.

Subcutaneous fat has five main functions:

It’s the one way that your body stores energy.
It functions as a padding to protect your muscles and bones from the impact of hits or falls.
It serves as a passageway for nerves and blood vessels between your skin and your muscles.
It insulates your body, helping it regulate temperature.
It attaches the dermis to the muscles and bones with its special connecting tissue.

Is subcutaneous fat good for you?

Subcutaneous fat is an important part of your body, BUT if your body is storing too much of it, you may be at a higher risk for health problems including:

Heart disease and strokes
High blood pressure
Type 2 diabetes
Certain types of cancer
Sleep apnea
Fatty liver disease
Kidney disease

Reducing the amount of subcutaneous fat (and by the same token visceral fat) with diet and exercise can help prevent these condition.

But what if I continue to have that pocket of fat that is resistant to diet and exercise? Well, there has been many devices in the market that would help get rid of resistant subcutaneous fat. Some of these devices even promise permanent results by permanently destroying fat cells. Body contouring is a very popular procedure in aesthetics that helps you get to your dream body image that you’ve always desired.