New study finds number of fat cells stays constant throughout life

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When energy input is equal to energy output there is no expansion of fat cells (lipocytes) to accommodate excess. It is only when more calories are taken in than used that the extra fat is stored in the lipocytes and the person begins to accumulate f ...
When energy input is equal to energy output, there is no expansion of fat cells (lipocytes) to accommodate excess. It is only when more calories are taken in than used that the extra fat is stored in the lipocytes and the person begins to accumulate fat. Courtesy: National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health

The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and '60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human's body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.


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