60秒科学:肥胖可以起到保护作用（在线收听）

众所周知，肥胖有害健康。人们常说，肥胖会引发各种各样的内科疾病：胆固醇过高，胰岛素抵抗，还很可能患糖尿病和心脏病。不过，德州大学西南医疗中心的科学家们提出了不同意见。他们在《内分泌学与新陈代谢新动向》杂志中提出：其实，肥胖可以使人们免遭上述疾病困扰。

Does Getting Fat Protect against Fat?

Everyone knows that obesity is bad for your health. Packing on the pounds, we’re told, leads to all sorts of medical problems: high cholesterol, insulin resistance, greater risk of diabetes and heart disease. But researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center see things a little differently. In a paper in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism , they argue that being fat can actually protect us from these disorders.

The scientists [Robert Unger and Philipp Scherer] don’t deny that we eat too much, especially high-calorie foods chock full of carbs and fats. In the past, that sort of overindulgence, and over-nutrition, used to be reserved for royalty. But now, the scientists note, “bad calories are so cheap that anyone can afford to get overweight.” But obesity, they say, is the body’s way of storing fats where they belong: in fat tissue. That metabolic sequestration actually protects other organs from the harmful effects of fat.

The trouble comes when people who are larger-than-life continue to consume excess calories. That’s when the fat winds up where fat’s not supposed to go…triggering insulin resistance and its complications. So you might be able to get away with the supersized fries. But only if you haven’t already supersized yourself.

—Karen Hopkin