eli5: Why will the body continue to store excess fat to the point where it jeopardizes the person’s health?

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I understand food wasn’t always so abundant, and humans were well served to store excess consumed energy as fat for later use. What I don’t understand is why the body keeps storing fat to the point where a person becomes morbidly obese and it puts their entire health at risk. Why isn’t there a point where the body just let’s the extra calories pass through without saving for later?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

It generally won’t and doesn’t if you don’t live in an industrialized society. Getting fat to the point of negative health impact is a feature of life in an industrialized society, every society that industrializes sees their people lose the ability to regulate their fat levels, and it’s likely the result of “obesogenic” chemicals we’re exposed to in such an environment.

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