Loss of the Fat Mass in Space – Weightlessness/Microgravity

In weightlessness (microgravity), the human body is affected by an involuntary loss of muscle, bone and fat mass.

Note;

1. The body has weight because of the pull of gravity.
2. In weightlessness, the body doesn’t have weight.
3. No one can lose weight in weightlessness. (You can’t lose something that you don’t have.)
4. In weightlessness, the human body has mass like any physical object. In an environment of 1G and in weightlessness, the body has mass.

In weightlessness/microgravity, increased food intake will not even slow the loss of muscles, bones and fat mass.

There is no supplement, drugs or any kind of food that will even slow the atrophy of the muscles, bones and fat mass in weightlessness.

It is obvious that even a Bear will not gain body mass in weightlessness, despite excessive feeding, nor it will be saved from atrophy of the existing body mass.

The involuntary loss of the muscles, bones and fat mass is one major obstacle to any possible prolonged space travel.

The only way to slow the ATROPHY of the muscles, bones and FAT MASS is to do exercises on a specially designed exercise device for weightlessness.

The example of how weightlessness affects the body mass regulation shows us that without the pull of gravity, it will be not only impossible to gain body mass, whether it is muscle mass, bones mass or FAT MASS, but it would also be impossible to maintain the existing body weight whether you are human or a bear.

The biological basis of fat mass formation and the mechanisms of body fat distribution can be understood by almost everyone, but it takes time to explain. 

The article on my website: Food, Water, Air, Physical Activity, Gravity and Weight Gain/Weight Loss explains a little bit more about regulating the mechanism of weight gain and weight loss.

That article doesn’t explain everything, but it is the first step to understanding the biological basis of fat mass formation. Actually, it should be the talk of fat cells formation and fat mass formation, but for the sake of simplicity, I will mention only fat mass formation because the formation of the fat cells causes an increase in the fat mass and an increase in the size of single-cell increases body fat mass.

Please note:

There is only one biological basis for fat mass formation.

There are many mechanisms underlining body fat mass distributions.

You may like to read more about weightlessness and about the real science of weight gain and weight loss.