OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE, LISTEN UP
YOU CAN HAVE YOUR MUSCLE CELLS CROSSTALK TO YOUR FAT CELLS: ‘GET LOST’
Before I tell you how to do that, I would like to share with you some background knowledge for better understanding.
Mounting scientific evidence has shown that our brain, body, tissue, and cells continuously communicate (talk) to each other for proper physiologic functioning, growth, repair, and immunologic defense. The language used for these communications are different and very complex. It consists of some form of electric currents, neuro- molecular signals (neuro- peptides) molecules, hormonal, immunologic and sensory perceptions.
These communications are one of the major biological functions of the brain and the nerves system. Most communications occur through the neural pathways. But it could also occur through the blood circulation, blood cells and as well as direct contact.
As I mentioned in my previous articles, the human brain is the most complex and sophisticated anatomical organ, in the universe. It is composed of 100 billion on independent nerve cells (neurons), and these cells are interconnected to each other, via special and functional synaptic connections. There are more synaptic connections in the brain than the nerve cells. Synaptic connections are not continuation of nerve cells, but receptor bound with very narrow interruptions that could prevent or change the intensity of signal transmission between interconnected nerve cells.
How does the brain marshal its billions of individual nerve cells to generate desired signal molecules, desired actions, and behaviors? This remains a mystery, just like consciousness.
Scientific studies on weightlifters have shown that weightlifting and/or resistance exercises have unique influences on fat cells losses, beyond the influence of exercise induced calorie expenditure. It is curious to know how this weight and fat cells loss could happen with resistance exercises?
A new, well thought, and elegant animal study done in this regard, published in May 2021 in The FASEB Journal (The Federation of American Society for Experimental Biology). The researchers decided to examine muscles cells biology in muscle building mice, by severing several leg muscles in healthy adult mice and leaving a single muscle to do all physical demand on the animal. That muscle swiftly hypertrophied.
Before and after the procedure, scientists drew blood, biopsied muscles to search molecular changes in the cells and tissues. Before the procedure the leg muscles of the animals had teemed with, a tiny strand of genetic material known as “microRNA”, that modulates muscle growth. In normal untrained muscle, microRNA keeps a break on muscle building. After improvised resistance exercises the animals leg muscles were depleted of all microRNAs, but their blood packed with small vesicles (fluid filled very small sacs) that contain microRNA as well as, nearby fat tissues, and fat cells.
The scientists concluded that muscles, to get hypertrophic, send all microRNA, which normally retards muscle hypertrophy, in vesicles and via blood circulation, to be posted in the neighboring fat cells. But an important question arise here is why and, what microRNAs are going to do to the fat cells?
To answer this question, scientists obtained vesicles from the blood of weight trained mice, marked it with a fluorescent dye and injected it into untrained mice. The vesicles homed in on fat tissue and deposited their microRNA there. Soon after, some genes in the fat cells went to overdrive, breakdown the fat into smaller fatty acids molecules that could be used as fuel for energy, for the need of the entire body.
In conclusion, it could be said that even though mice are not human, resistance and weightlifting exercises are very important for building and protecting muscle mass, metabolic health, and weight loss. Time to get into the gym!
