Name: The Truth About Fat
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NOVA

Scientists are coming to understand fat as a dynamic organ—one whose size may have more to do with biological processes than personal choices. Explore the mysteries of fat and its role in hormone production, hunger, and even pregnancy.

Could it be that body fat has more to do with biological processes than personal choices?

The Truth About Fat Preview

Truth About Fat Preview

Experts weigh in on the relationship between food and exercise—turns out it's much more complex than it seems.
Remembering sumo champion Byambajav Ulambayar, who died in February 2020.

It has to do with where the fat is distributed in their bodies.

How Do Sumo Wrestlers Avoid Obesity-Related Diseases?

A young man with lipodystrophy receives treatment after researchers find a hormone in mice that helps regulate appetite in humans.

The discovery of leptin transformed our view of fat.

How the Hormone Leptin Helps Regulate Appetite

The Truth About Fat Prologue

Truth About Fat Prologue

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The Truth About Fat

Truth About Fat

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(This program is no longer available for online streaming.) Do we control our fat, or does it control us? For generations, overweight individuals have been stigmatized and cast as lazy. But scientists are coming to understand fat as a fascinating and dynamic organ—one whose size has more to do with biological processes than personal choices. Through real-life stories of hunter-gatherers, sumo wrestlers, and supermodels, NOVA explores the complex functions of fat and the role it plays in controlling hunger, hormones, and even reproduction.

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Addenbrooke's Hospital

Could it be that body fat has more to do with biological processes than personal choices?

Body & Brain

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications of these dramatic developments in the Arctic? Scientists and local communities alike are struggling to grasp the scale of the methane threat and what it means for our climate future. (Premiered February 2, 2022)

In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate.

Arctic Sinkholes

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A composite image of Jupiter using images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

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A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

Scientists have cured a handful of people of HIV by piggybacking on treatments they received for blood cancer. But does that bring a widespread cure any closer?

The Truth About Fat

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How 'brown fat' helps you cope with cold weather

The Truth About Fat

Junk Food Can Alter Your Immune System

How Do Sumo Wrestlers Avoid Obesity-Related Diseases?

People Who Follow Low-Fat Diets Have Higher Mortality Rates, Study Says

Ultra-processed foods make us eat more, and it’s not about their nutritional makeup

How the Hormone Leptin Helps Regulate Appetite

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Explore More

How 'brown fat' helps you cope with cold weather

The Truth About Fat

Junk Food Can Alter Your Immune System

How Do Sumo Wrestlers Avoid Obesity-Related Diseases?

People Who Follow Low-Fat Diets Have Higher Mortality Rates, Study Says

Ultra-processed foods make us eat more, and it’s not about their nutritional makeup

How the Hormone Leptin Helps Regulate Appetite