Conflicting effects of BMI and waist circumference on iron status.

[Giraffe]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26302915

"The aim of the present study is thus to determine if body mass index and waist circumference have the same correlation with iron status. One thousand one hundred and thirty people (225 men and 905 women) aged 30 years and above participated in this study. Anthropometric parameters, haemoglobin, iron and total iron binding capacity concentrations were measured using standard methods. Percentage transferrin saturation was calculated and ferritin concentrations were measured using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Obese or overweight women had significantly lower iron and transferrin saturation concentration when compared to non-obese women. In contrast, women with high waist circumference had comparable plasma iron and transferrin saturation to women with normal waist circumference. Partial correlation analysis and linear regression analysis showed that BMI is negatively and significantly associated with plasma iron, transferrin saturation, Hb and ferritin concentration, whilst waist circumference is positively but insignificantly associated with plasma iron, transferrin saturation, Hb and ferritin concentration. Binary regression analysis showed that obese or overweight people are more likely to have iron deficiency, whilst those with raised waist circumference are more likely to have iron overload. Multivariate analysis showed that body mass index is negatively and significantly associated with low iron status, while waist circumference is positively and insignificantly associated with iron status. This is supported by a comparison of plasma iron, transferrin saturation and ferritin concentrations in participants with high body mass index and normal waist circumference and participants with normal body mass index and high waist circumference to those participants having normal body mass index and normal waist circumference. The present study suggests that in women body mass index is associated with low plasma iron, transferrin saturation and ferritin concentrations, while waist circumference is associated with high plasma iron, transferrin saturation and ferritin concentrations."

 

[hmac]

Perhaps one of the mechanisms by which fatness protects from disease

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Could be. It seems that adipose tissue stores iron and it is changed in obesity.

http://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinolog ... 43-2760(14)00216-1

Maybe the body reacts to excess iron by building excess tissue to dump it in:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/44421

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... .12165/pdf

 

[hmac]

post 99234 Could be. It seems that adipose tissue stores iron and it is changed in obesity.

http://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinolog ... 43-2760(14)00216-1

Maybe the body reacts to excess iron by building excess tissue to dump it in:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/44421

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... .12165/pdf

That's very interesting. Whenever I've heard mention of the idea that the body preferentially burns saturated fats and stores PUFA it has occurred to me that this could be another reason for the ostensible protection that fatness can afford; it would allow a more favourable ratio of sat fat to PUFA to remain in tissues as if one was lean then surely at some point (assuming the preferential storage of pufa) the tissues would be pure PUFA.

 

[Parsifal]

post 107090

post 99234 Could be. It seems that adipose tissue stores iron and it is changed in obesity.

http://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinolog ... 43-2760(14)00216-1

Maybe the body reacts to excess iron by building excess tissue to dump it in:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/44421

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... .12165/pdf

That's very interesting. Whenever I've heard mention of the idea that the body preferentially burns saturated fats and stores PUFA it has occurred to me that this could be another reason for the ostensible protection that fatness can afford; it would allow a more favourable ratio of sat fat to PUFA to remain in tissues as if one was lean then surely at some point (assuming the preferential storage of pufa) the tissues would be pure PUFA.

That's interesting. Fatness is an indication of slow metabolism and that the nutrients you are eating are not being used though.
Eating to the point of becoming fat doesn't seem healthy to me as some people seems to think here, in my opinion it creates an energy defficiency because digestion uses a lot of energy so if you are still eating but not using the energy it seems counterproductive.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Becoming fat is a stress reaction. It's bad, but it can be protective. In the most obvious case, food insecurity, especially.

In case of PUFA, the body would probably prefer to destroy it in the liver.

 

[hmac]

post 107090

post 99234 Could be. It seems that adipose tissue stores iron and it is changed in obesity.

http://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinolog ... 43-2760(14)00216-1

Maybe the body reacts to excess iron by building excess tissue to dump it in:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/44421

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... .12165/pdf

That's very interesting. Whenever I've heard mention of the idea that the body preferentially burns saturated fats and stores PUFA it has occurred to me that this could be another reason for the ostensible protection that fatness can afford; it would allow a more favourable ratio of sat fat to PUFA to remain in tissues as if one was lean then surely at some point (assuming the preferential storage of pufa) the tissues would be pure PUFA.

That's interesting. Fatness is an indication of slow metabolism and that the nutrients you are eating are not being used though.
Eating to the point of becoming fat doesn't seem healthy to me as some people seems to think here, in my opinion it creates an energy defficiency because digestion uses a lot of energy so if you are still eating but not using the energy it seems counterproductive.

Yeh, I'm not advocating deliberate fat gain - just speculating about the way in which it could offer some protection in disease states.