This Article is From Jan 05, 2018

Cutting Down On Body Fat May Put You To Risk Of Infections: Study 

Being a little on heavier side may not be that bad after all. According to a latest study, cells found in fat may be crucial for helping your body fight infection.

Cutting Down On Body Fat May Put You To Risk Of Infections: Study 
Trying to cut down fat after the festive bingeing? Tired of the extra bulge around your belly and thigh? Take it easy. Yes you heard us. Being a little on heavier side may not be that bad after all. According to a latest study, cells found in fat may be crucial for helping your body to fight infection. 

For the study published in the online journal Immunity, researchers discovered that when fat was transferred from an animal which was previously exposed to a particular bacteria to one that had not, the unexposed animal was able to fight off infection as well as the one that had already encountered the bacteria.

A team at the US National Institutes of Health carried out the research on monkeys. They found that they also have plenty of memory T-cells in their body fat and that these cells worked better than those from other organs. 


Lead researchers of the study explained the mechanism. Once exposed to a pathogen, T-cells mount a stronger response the next time they encounter it. This can point to the fact that the memory cells fed in our fat could have a more significant function than previously thought. Fat tissue in addition to being the reservoir for memory cells, have a much more enhanced function.


Memory exhibited by T-cells is particularly powerful because they could be feeding on the energy-rich fat tissue they are stored in. 

However that doesn't mean that you start noshing beyond the limits. Eating junk and trans-fat foods is never a healthy bet. Not all amounts of fat are good, said the researchers. When people become obese, there is a significant change in the relationship between fat tissue and immune cells seems to change, leading to harmful inflammation. But some amount of fat may in fact be healthy. 


The team are now investigating immune cells in biopsies of human fat tissue. Once finding them, the researchers will try to discover what exactly the fat cells do to boost the power of these cells researchers are hopeful that this could lead to new ways to boost our body's immune response to infections, cancer and vaccinations.


 
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