Lipid replacement: why with age it costs us more to lose weight

Understanding how this process is is key in a world that is going through an obesity epidemic and the health complications that entails.

The key is in the rate of change in the storage and elimination of lipids.

Now, a new investigation discovered why it is that many of us load of kilos with the age.

It has to do with what they call lipid replacement, according to researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

The replacement or replacement of lipids is the ability of the body to store and dispose of lipids to regulate the mass of adipose tissue.

Excess body mass is directly associated with a decrease in adipose lipid removal rates.

That is what affects us, as we age and it facilitates weight gain, despite the changes in diet or exercise we make, the scientists said.

The Karolinska Institute researchers collected the weight changes and molecular processes recorded by almost 100 individuals (men and women) over 13 years.

In that period, all subjects, regardless of whether they had gained or lost weight, demonstrated a reduction in lipid substitution.

And the inability to adjust to what they ate during this 13-year period is related to a 20% increase in body weight, explained Kirsty Spalding, one of the leading researchers, on the Karolinska site.

"Health in general is affected by an increase in the size of fat cells (fat), so, as you get older and eat food at the same rate and don't adjust to the fact that you're not burning the same, your cells Fats will grow in size and that will have negative consequences for your health, "he said.

The researchers also examined that lipid rotation in 41 women who had been undergoing bariatric surgery, a procedure whereby the size of the stomach is reduced with a ligament or by removing a part of it.

They studied how their lipid replacement rates affected their ability to control weight between four to seven years after surgery.

The results showed that Only those who had manifested a low rate before surgery could increase lipid replacement and maintain their weight loss.

The explanation, the researchers said, is that these people had more space to improve lipid replacement than those who had already shown high rates before surgery.

The results are particularly encouraging for patients who initially show low lipid replacement rates because it means that they can improve your ability to burn fat.

Previously, exercise had been linked to the rate at which humans burned fat, but these new discoveries present new possibilities to intensify this process.

In addition to emphasizing what is already known about the benefit of exercise, scientists also stressed the importance of Look for new methods and treatment strategies that can really accelerate the rate at which we burn fat.

"The results for the first time indicate that the processes in our adipose tissue regulate changes in body weight during aging in a way that is independent of other factors," said Peter Arner, professor of the Department of Medicine at the Karolinska Institute and one of The main authors of the study.

"This could open new ways to treat obesity," he added.

Obesity and health complications from excess kilos have reached epidemic levels in the world.

It is estimated that 13% of the world's population is affected by obesity, one of the main causes of cardiovascular and metabolic problems.