The Secret Life of Fat

The Science Behind the Body's Least Understood Organ and What It Means for You

by Sylvia Tara

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Pub Date Dec 27 2016 | Archive Date Nov 30 2016

W. W. Norton & Company

Health, Mind & Body | Nonfiction (Adult)

Description

Fat is an obsession, a dirty word, a subject of national handwringing—and, according to biochemist Sylvia Tara, the least-understood part of our body. You may not love your fat, but your body certainly does. In fact, your body is actually endowed with many self-defense measures to hold on to fat. For example, fat can use stem cells to regenerate; increase our appetite if it feels threatened; and use bacteria, genetics, and viruses to expand itself. The secret to losing twenty pounds? You have to work with your fat, not against it. Tara explains how your fat influences your appetite and willpower, how it defends itself when attacked, and why it grows back so quickly. The Secret Life of Fat brings cutting-edge research together with historical perspectives to reveal fat’s true identity: an endocrine organ that, in the right amount, is critical to our health. Fat triggers puberty, enables our reproductive and immune systems, and even affects brain size. Although we spend $60 billion annually fighting fat, our efforts are often misinformed and misdirected. Tara expertly illustrates the complex role that genetics, hormones, diet, exercise, and history play in our weight, and The Secret Life of Fat sets you on the path to beat the bulge once and for all.

Fat is an obsession, a dirty word, a subject of national handwringing—and, according to biochemist Sylvia Tara, the least-understood part of our body. You may not love your fat, but your body...

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9780393244830
PRICE	$26.95 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

Deb M, Reviewer

In a world which bombards us with messages for "the right way" in what to eat, how to eat, how much to weigh, how to measure Body Mass Index, the newest and best theory of being our best skinny selves - and confusingly, screams headlines about what is wrong about them all - Sylvia Tara, PhD, has brought us a sensible and RIVETING fount of information which is genuinely useful. "FAT" is not a four letter word; it actually is a functioning and extremely important organ in our body.

The Secret Life of Fat tells a highly readable nonfiction story complete with case studies and fascinating research, about a subject which is really in its beginning stages of discovery. A virus might make you fat; some bacteria might do so too. Fat allows for proper brain development in babies; the maintenance of myelin in the brains of everyone, keeping neural pathways intact, requires fat. Fat is found in stem cells. It can safeguard your health in many ways, including being overweight if you have the right genes.

But weight issues have plagued us in modern times, and Sylvia Tara approaches those with the latest research and common sense. I loved her personal story, which led to this book: Why did she gain weight and carry fat while eating so much less food than her peers? I am inspired to utilize my new knowledge, trash the latest fads and develop a unique plan which will be "my right way" to lose my kind of fat!

Highly recommended.

(Review will be posted on or after December 14, 2016, to my blog, link added below.) Will be added to noted links as well.