Your Fat Has a Storage Limit

In 2004 a surgeon removed about ten kilograms of fat from fifteen women and measured everything that mattered. Nothing improved. Four years later, it still hadn't. That result should have ended an argument about body fat. Instead the argument got more specific, and the version you've heard most recently is that visceral fat, the fat around your organs, is the dangerous kind. I've said a version of that myself on this show, and in this episode I expand upon it. This one starts from the beginning: what your fat is actually for, what insulin is, and what insulin resistance means, in plain terms and assuming nothing. Then four experiments that all point the same direction. Fat removed surgically, and the disease doesn't follow. People born with no fat tissue at all, who get the entire disease anyway. A hormone that reversed a 48% fatty liver without adding a gram of fat. And a diabetes drug that made people heavier and healthier at the same time. The second half is practical. What a fatty liver actually does over twenty years, what BMI can and can't do, why the Lancet Commission changed the definition of obesity in 2025, and the exact order of tests I'd use, including the TyG index, FIB-4, and where each one stops working. Part one of two. Next episode is about muscle. Timestamps: 00:00 The Liposuction Experiment 02:06 The Visceral Fat Correction 05:47 What Fat Is For 08:14 The Carb Insulin Model 10:51 Filling The Garage 14:35 Taking The Fat Out 17:57 Born Without Fat Tissue 22:52 Heavier And Healthier 25:05 Neptune And Vulcan 29:57 The Patient Nobody Checked 33:59 What Every Ruler Missed 36:00 What To Actually Order 40:29 What Obesity Actually Is Resources: Vital 5 (TyG , waist to height, etc. discussion): https://www.barbellmedicine.com/vital-5-action-plan/ New Barbell Medicine Hybrid 5K and 10K Run + Lift Programs Barbell Medicine coaching and templates: https://www.barbellmedicine.com Plus podcast subscription: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/shop/subscriptions/plus-podcast-subscription/ Barbell Medicine Premium: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/shop/subscriptions/barbell-medicine-premium/ Signal (now shipping): https://www.barbellmedicine.com/shop/learning/signal/ Klein S, Fontana L, Young VL, et al. 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Int J Obes (Lond). 2006;30(1):147-155. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803105 Kramer CK, Zinman B, Retnakaran R. Are metabolically healthy overweight and obesity benign conditions? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2013;159(11):758-769. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-159-11-201312030-00008 Our Sponsors: * Check out FIGS and use my code FIGSRX for a great deal: https://wearfigs.com * Check out FIGS and use my code FIGSRX for a great deal: https://wearfigs.com * Check out Factor and use my code factormeals.com/bbm50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com * Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/BBM for a great deal: https://www.quince.com * Check out Ten Thousand and use my code PODCAST15 for a great deal: https://www.tenthousand.cc Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands