Published : 30 Sep 2026, 08:48 PM
Updated : 30 Sep 2026, 08:48 PM
Body fat has long been cast as the enemy. Diet culture urges us to burn it, food companies market low-fat products, and social media is full of advice on how to get as lean as possible. But scientists say this obsession with fat loss is misguided -- and potentially dangerous.
"We have to love our fat," says Elif Oral, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. "It plays such an important biological function."
Far from being inert tissue, body fat is an active organ. It stores and releases energy, produces hormones, regulates body temperature and signals to the brain how much fuel the body has available, reports BBC.
The hormone leptin, produced by fat cells, tells the brain that energy reserves are sufficient -- allowing the body to focus on reproduction, immunity and other essential functions.
When fat levels drop too low, the body shifts into survival mode. The immune system weakens, muscle breaks down for fuel, and bones stop being repaired.
In men, testosterone can fall. In women, menstrual cycles can become irregular or stop altogether.
Research also points to what scientists call the obesity paradox: people carrying extra weight in middle and older age tend to have better survival odds during critical illness, according to BBC.
A cushion of fat reserves appears to help the body weather cardiac events, strokes and other acute emergencies.
As a broad guide, healthy body fat ranges are around 10–20 percent for adult men and 20–29 percent for adult women, though experts caution that individual needs vary by age, sex and ethnicity.
Where fat is stored also matters -- visceral fat around the abdomen is particularly harmful, raising blood pressure and increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, states BBC.
Experts say the goal should be balance, not elimination. "It's important to have the right amount, rather than striving to have as little as possible," Oral says.
