Storage vs. Essential Fat
Most of body fat is storage fat, which is the layer of fat under our skin which protects internal organs from major harm, provides a store of energy to endure times of fasting, and also helps you deal with extremes of climate temperatures. Have you ever noticed how a very thin person is frequently complaining of being “cold” when the other people are comfortable? That’s because their storage fat is lower than average.
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There is a small amount of essential fat that serves important functions in the body like cell membrane integrity. Essential fat for men ranges from three to eight percent of body weight. When you add storage fat, a good range for men is fifteen to twenty percent. Women have the additional component of gender-specific areas of fat which include the breasts, hips, and buttocks which evolved because of need for extra fat for childbearing.
This fat plus essential fat make their range a minimum of twelve to fourteen percent fat and a good range being twenty-five to thirty percent for total body fat. In order to be able to conceive and carry a child, women require about twenty percent body fat and a young girl’s first menstrual period occurs when she achieves this critical fat proportion. This is one of the reasons for the age of menarche (first menstruation) starting earlier in girls where food supply is more abundant and high in fat. Men also have an easier time losing weight due to their higher proportion of lean body mass (which burns energy more easily) and lower overall percentage of essential fat than women.