Why fat-burning slows down in obesity
Effect of insulin on oxidative and nonoxidative pathways of free fatty acid metabolism in human obesity.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When insulin goes up, it normally tells fat cells to stop releasing fat. In obese people, more fat is released at rest, and insulin doesn’t stop it as well — but that’s because they have more fat, not because their fat cells are broken.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When insulin goes up, it normally tells fat cells to stop releasing fat. In obese people, more fat is released at rest, and insulin doesn’t stop it as well — but that’s because they have more fat, not because their fat cells are broken.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 533 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Groop LC, Bonadonna RC, Simonson DC, Petrides AS, Shank M, DeFronzo RA
Related Content
Claims (6)
Obese people re-store more fat inside their cells at rest, and insulin doesn’t slow this process down as much as it does in lean people.
In people with obesity who don’t have diabetes, fat cells still respond normally to insulin — the high fat levels are just because they have more fat tissue, not because their fat cells are broken.
People with obesity have more fat circulating in their blood at rest, and their bodies are breaking down and re-storing fat at a faster rate than people without obesity.
In people with obesity, insulin doesn’t reduce fat release from fat tissue as well as it does in lean people — but if you account for how much fat they have, insulin works just as well.
Insulin reduces fat burning in the blood the same way in obese and lean people, but obese people still burn more fat overall because their bodies are burning fat stored inside cells — not just from the blood.