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London: There may be some truth to the saying ‘a moment on the
lips, a lifetime on the hips’. Scientists have found that once
eaten, fat is stored on the waistline within hours — far faster
than previously thought. Within just three or four hours of
having a meal, up to two or three teaspoons of fat from the food
gets stored.
And if eaten again shortly afterwards, the fat stored around
the middle will grow and grow. Those who like to tuck in at
dinner should take particular note, as fat from meals eaten
later in the day is especially likely to be stored around the
middle.
The finding that it is possible to ‘become fat’ within three
hours contradicts the popular belief that weight gain is
gradual. It was believed that fat from food was transported from
the gut into the blood, where it could be used by the muscles as
needed. Any excess was thought to be gradually removed and
stored in the fatty, or adipose, tissue around the waist, hips
and legs.
In the experiments, volunteers ate fat, which could be
traced around the body. This was found to take around an hour to
be broken down in the gut and then enter the bloodstream as tiny
droplets, the Daily Mail reported. The droplets are then whisked
around the body — but not for long — before they are ‘caught’
and stored. “The process is very fast,” said Fredrik Karpe,
professor of metabolic medicine.
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