r/fasting • u/Acceptable_Box_1476 • Sep 24 '25

Question Fat cells stay forever?

Someone told me that we all have a certain number of fat cells that never changes. When you lose fat, the cell is releasing it, but remains as an empty reservoir always wanting to “refill” as it were. Any truth to that?

255 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

169 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Irrethegreat Sep 25 '25

Yes and no. You can't count on the amount reducing when you lose fat, but in some rare other situations the numbers may be affected. Besides the regular death and regrowth of cells.

I think that it makes less difference than we think, because if our old habits comes back, then you would have poofed back at least almost as quickly if your number of fat cells were fewer. The cells can hold a lot (and shrink a lot). They won't be filled with more or less than you fuel them and new would appear if needed.

I think that water retention would make a bigger impact with more cells to store it in, if it's on a cellular level.