Patient-Friendly Explanation

Everyone can store a certain amount of fat safely, but the limit is different for each person. When you go past your own limit, fat spills into the liver, muscles and pancreas, and blood sugar starts to rise. That is why two people of the same weight can have very different health, and why losing a modest amount of weight can put type 2 diabetes into remission.

Clinical Definition

The personal fat threshold hypothesis proposes that each individual has a genetically and environmentally set capacity for subcutaneous fat storage; exceeding it causes ectopic fat deposition, hepatic insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction. It accounts for the remission of type 2 diabetes seen after ten to fifteen per cent weight loss in the DiRECT trial and helps explain the dissociation between BMI and metabolic health. Reducing weight below the individual threshold restores glycaemic control.

Why It Matters

It reframes obesity as an individual threshold rather than a single BMI number, and it supports a reassuring, achievable message: a moderate weight loss can normalise blood sugar even without reaching an ideal body weight.