The Process of Fat Oxidation

What is fat oxidation?

The manner in which your body uses fuel is universally misunderstood, supported by the vast varieties of diets that prey on the ignorance of dietary intake and its utilization of the components for fuel. Especially prominent in diets that promote a particular food group over another such as the infamous Atkin’s diet, or South Beach diet; these diets build upon the concept of fostering fat availability for fuel by limiting other sources that would push fat cells in the back of the burning line. While initially effective, these diets do not properly apply the natural process of the body’s utilization of fat, carbohydrates, and sugars to encourage a healthy comprehensive understanding of the processes that ultimately make these extreme diets unsuccessful long term.

What is Fat Oxidation

Fat oxidation is a commonly used term referenced in health articles, supplement reviews, and other nutritional sources that is not very clearly defined for the reader, but the desired result nonetheless. The understanding of how fat is made the primary preferred source for oxidation will increase not just your knowledge that shapes your dietary decisions, but will increase your ability to aid your body in decreasing body fat, and propel your fat loss success.

Oxidation is simply a term used interchangeably with “burning”. The oxidation process is the utilization of a fuel source for energy. Sources of fuel are typically obtained through dietary intake and include carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and the body has a very set preference on the order in which they will burn the sources for fuel through oxidation.

Carbohydrates are favored first for fuel due to the ease and least amount of energy expended in oxidation, as well as their role in supporting the central nervous system and red blood cell production.

Fats come second in line, and are favored for their nearly limitless storage capability and wide spectrum of cell function applications.

Proteins are least favored for energy primarily because of the energy expense involved in oxidation as well as their difficult to access storage location.

There are methods in which a person can influence which source the body chooses to burn for fuel, creating a more favorable atmosphere for fat oxidation over carbohydrate or vice versa, for example, if more carbohydrates are consumed, then there will be more that will be pushed to the front of the line for energy, and fat pushed to the back of the line, or into storage such as bellies, hips and thighs, in favor of carbohydrate oxidation.

Now, if carbohydrate intake were to be decreased, fat would be pulled out of storage and brought up front for oxidation, this is furthered by caloric intake decrease, or physical exercise increase—the very best scenario for fat burning. But just as fat is typically stored when an excess amount is present, carbohydrates are not; this means they are simply put on the bench and sought out by the body for energy prior to dragging fat out of their stores.

So by increasing carbohydrate intake, the body will not convert these to storage, but put them on deck to be used in front of fat, but excess fat in the diet will always equate to excess fat storage. Storage occurs through digesting fats, conversion of fats to fatty acids, and storage in the form of triglycerides.

Hormones must signal triglyceride release from adipose tissue in a process called lipolysis; triglycerides are reduced to glycerol, and fatty acids. The fatty acids are taken to the mitochondria, or fuel station of the cell. They are taken here because mitochondria are able to oxidize these fatty acids to create ATP, or put simply energy. Mitochondria is also the organelle that is responsible for cellular aerobic respiration. Despite the roles of these organelles, even with a stain applied by a pipette (serological pipettes are constructed to ensure precision), they are too small to be able to view under a light microscope! It’s very strange to think that these small organelles are able to complete important processes like oxidation.

Your body does this naturally, or you can make it burn fat with fat burners like CapsiLean. CapsiLean utilizes scientifically backed ingredients to burn calories, block carbs and burn fat. Up your oxidation game with CapsiLean, today.