Does The Body Store Fat Like Carbohydrates?

Fats and carbohydrates are two types of nutrients you need to consume in certain amounts in order to maintain your health. When you consume more carbohydrates than you immediately need, your body stores them as a substance called glycogen. When you eat more fats than you immediately need, your body stores them as a substance called triglyceride, or triacylglycerol.

Understanding Carbohydrate Storage

The carbs in your diet help keep your body functioning by supplying you with a fuel source called glucose, which enters your bloodstream after the last stages of carbohydrate digestion take place in your small intestine. Once your short-term glucose needs are met, your body converts leftover glucose into a more compact substance called glycogen, and then stores this glycogen in your liver, as well as in your skeletal muscle tissue. When you need more fuel to keep going, your glycogen supply is reconverted to glucose.

Understanding Fat Storage

The fats in your diet keep your body going by supplying you with substances called fatty acids, which are critical to normal brain development, as well as normal function of your blood and tissues. Dietary fats also allow you to maintain your skin and hair, insulate your body from your surrounding environment and store lots of reserve energy in an efficient manner. When you eat more fat than you need for your short-term function, fatty acids from your bloodstream combine inside your fat cells with a substance called glycerol and form triglyceride. When you need to draw on your fat reserves, triglyceride is broken apart and sent back into your bloodstream.

Glucose Storage in Fat

You can only store so much glycogen in your muscles and liver. If you still have excess glucose in your system after your glycogen reserves reach maximum, your body will convert the remainder to triglyceride and store it in your fatty tissues. This mechanism allows you to store excess energy as efficiently as possible, since a single gram of fat or triglyceride can hold more than twice the number of calories as a single gram of carbohydrates or glycogen. However, if you store too much fat energy, excess body weight can endanger your health in a number of ways.

Alternative Glucose Production

If your glycogen reserves are emptied and you don't eat more carbohydrates, you can run out of glucose. Your brain needs at least some glucose to function normally, so lack of this fuel can have catastrophic consequences for your health. Your body deals with this situation by breaking down triglyceride and using its glycerol content, along with disassembled proteins from your muscle tissue and a substance from your red blood cells called lactate to form a new glucose supply. This process is called gluconeogenesis. Consult your doctor for more information on the ways in which your body stores fat and carbohydrates.