Where Does Body Fat Go After Weight Loss?

Losing weight can be an exhilarating experience for someone who was obese and had an extra layer of fat floating around the centre of the body. With proper diet and exercise the extra kilos can come right off the human body, but when you lose weight what actually happens to the extra fat that was stored earlier in the body?

Our body fat is called triglycerides. This is stored for use as fuel when the body needs to use it for energy. There are enzymes in the blood which will take the triglycerides and break them down into fatty acid chains and glycerol. The fatty acids are a form of energy that cells can absorb.

The fatty acids are further broken down within the cells and fed as fuel to the mitochondria, which is basically the power generator of the cell. Once the fatty acids are used up they disintegrate into carbon di oxide and water. These are again thrown out of the body from our lungs and through our urine respectively.

That is how the fats that have been stored in the body can break down and be absorbed completely. So the next time you decide to conduct a science experiment about how well you can lose weight, be sure to remember just where the body fat goes!