Does Body Fat Help Our Body Conserve Body Heat?

Subcutaneous fat not only helps protect skeletal muscle from trauma but it also helps conserve our body heat. This is because fat tissue is a relatively good insulating tissue. Maintaining our body temperature allows cell operations to function optimally. Interestingly, too little subcutaneous body fat might allow for greater heat losses daily. This might partly explain why a leaner person may have a higher energy expenditure than another person having the same body weight but who is less lean. Following this line of thinking it would be easier for a leaner person to maintain their body weight than a heavier person. We’ll take a closer look at this in Chapter 7.

Body fat is important to maintain body temperature and to protect organs and muscle.