Page 27 - Seniors Toady - September Issue 2020
P. 27
Health
A weighty
issue
Yes, weight does increase with age, but there are some simple ways to keep it
in check, writes Dr Noor Gill
Many people struggle to keep their weight A study done by researchers at Karolinska
in check as they get older. And you were Medicine Institute, Sweden was published
probably blaming it on that pint of beer in the journal Nature Medicine, which
or the two (or three) extra servings of brought to light the reason for this. They
aloo puri. But not any more; no sirree, we had to say that the lipid turnover in the
have science and human physiology and fat tissue decreases during ageing. It is a
biochemistry to defend you. naturally occurring process where, with
the growth, the metabolism of the body also
Why am I putting on weight easily? starts slowing down.
You could be eating right and getting 30
minutes of walking and exercise into your What is lipid and lipid turnover?
routine but your weighing scale might Lipid is a biomolecule that we, for the sake
not agree with what it has to show for it. of simplicity, call fat.
Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and
rightly said, “Ageing is out of our control. degradation of the lipids or fats in the
How you handle it though, is in your cells. In today’s fast-paced world where
hands.” And the trick to doing that is to everything we do or consume has to reach
do it gracefully and make it look great us in a jiffy, our foods are no exception. And
so everyone looks forward to it. Among this has led to a global problem of obesity,
other things, ageing also makes it easier to which has made understanding lipid
gain weight even if you don’t eat more or dynamics and what regulates the size of the
exercise than you did before. fat mass in humans even more relevant and
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #15 | SEPTEMBER 2020 27
