Its no secret that being overweight and carrying to much fat is bad for us and can contribute to health conditions. But not all fat is actually bad and can have a positive effect with how long we can last in cold water. There are three different types of fat that our body holds which can be separated into three different colours.
White fat cells
This is the type of fat that make all of our clothes feel a little snug. Primarily white fat cells convert excess energy from food that we eat into lipid droplets. White fat cells are commonly found in the abdomen area. To much food can produce excess white fat cells making us look and feel overweight. Our body needs white fat cells to help regulate appetite and energy levels. This type of fat is also known as Subcutaneous fat.
Brown fat cells
Traditionally thought to have just been found in new-born babies, recent research now shows that brown fat cells remain in our bodies for the entirety of our lives. Brown fat predominantly is found along our spinal cord, between our shoulder blades, in our necks, along the tops of the collar bone and around our vital organs. Unlike white fat, brown fat cells do not change the appearance of our bodies. Brown fat converts energy from the food we eat and changes it into heat which of course is very important when cold water swimming. Studies have shown that Brown fat can be linked to better health, helping us to burn excess weight and fight off weight related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes.
Beige fat cells
These work similarly to Brown fat cells but are found in the same regions as white fat cells. Beige cells originally come from white fat cells and are transformed when when the body is exposed to low temperatures, typically 3 degrees above a persons shivering temperature. This process is known as browning. Essentially when our core body temperature drops beige fat burns energy found in white fat cells to create heat. This needs to be practiced regularly and for long periods of time for the browning to take affect.
Body fat
Fat around the body does in fact act as insulation and traps heat. Catherine O’brien , a research physiologist with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, states that a fatter persons core will remain warm whilst there skin cools down. However this can ultimately make a fatter person feel colder against a person at an average weight. That’s because the brain combines two signals, the temperature inside the body and the temperature on the surface of the skin, to determine when it’s time to constrict blood vessels (which limits heat loss through the skin) and trigger shivering (which generates heat).
But O’Brien points out that many other factors beyond subcutaneous fat help determine the rate at which we chill. Smaller people, who have more surface area compared to the total volume of their bodies, lose heat more quickly. (It’s often said that women feel colder than men; average body size may play a part.) A more muscular physique may also offer some protection against hypothermia, partly because muscle tissue generates lots of heat.
information taken from Popular Science Homepage | Popular Science (popsci.com)
I hope this article has helped you formulate your own opinion with being fat and cold water swimming. If you are looking to go swimming please check out Swim safety tips for extra advice on how to keep yourself and others safe. For other cold water swimming benefits click the following Top 7 Cold water swimming benefits (2021)
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