For many years fat cells were though to be biologically inactive, but it turns out that fat is far from inert. Fat cells secrete numerous chemicals that have been implicated in diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and other disorders and diseases, including some forms of cancer. Obese people have enormous fat cells, which are more metabolically active than normal-size fat cells and more likely to churn out harmful substances. "Apples," people who carry their fat in the abdomen, are more likely to have diabetes and heart disease than "pears," people who deposit weight on the hips and thighs.

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