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home / obesity / whole-body memory: how cells remember obesity and complicate weight loss

whole-body memory: how cells remember obesity and complicate weight loss

a study on obesity finds that cells may remember specific patterns that contribute to obesity and react in a way that drives the condition to recur, even if a person is trying to or has lost weight.

by angelica bottaro
published jan 08, 2025
last updated feb 20, 2025
read time 4 minute read
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read time 4 minute read
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since weight-holding and gaining effect occurs on a cellular level, it may help people better understand how complex of a disease obesity truly is. getty images
memory is often associated with the brain and cognition, but new research has found that other cells in the body hold a special type of memory all their own.
it doesn’t work quite like the brain’s version, which shapes identity, perception of the world around you, and your ability to organize, plan, and learn. these are considered more complex-style memories and are created in brain cells.
however, recent research has investigated whole-body memory, finding that non-brain cells can store their own versions of memories based on their experiences. specific fat cells in the body, known as adipocytes, remember the experience of obesity even after someone has recovered from the disease.

adipocytes memory and the link to obesity

when people living with obesity try to lose weight, it’s often met with significant challenges. even when a maintenance weight is reached, keeping the weight off is much more challenging for those who don’t have obesity. this is often seen in the yo-yo dieting cycle that many people who live in larger bodies experience.
with the evidence to support memory in cells, researchers wanted to investigate if fat cells may behave in the same manner, remembering the patterns of obesity on a physiological level that could play a role in the challenges people living with obesity face when trying to reach a healthy weight.
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their recent study on obesity and how adipocytes store memory has found that these cells may remember specific patterns that contribute to obesity, leading to these cells reacting in a way that drives the condition to develop or recur, even if a person is trying to or has lost weight.
the research determined that fat cells essentially remember their previous experience of being in an obese state. because of that memory, they act in a way that drives weight gain so that their environment returns to what they’re used to. they do so by continuing to promote gene expression that drives obesity based on the memories they’ve collected over time.
for example, if a person living with obesity engages in poor dietary routines, the cells will expect those routines to continue. when they don’t, their memory switches on, driving physiological processes more conducive to weight gain, making it much harder to reach or maintain a healthy weight.

non-brain cells and memory

various cells in the body hold onto their experiences. however, it’s not quite the same as in humans. for example, a person may recall memories of running around with their dog during childhood or hold on to past relationships by reminiscing on the good times.
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memory in humans can also establish rules to navigate the world, such as when walking across a crowded, busy street only after the walk sign is lit up. these memories are designed to keep people safe from harm while allowing them to engage and experience new things as they age.
memory in non-brain cells is a little different.
a study published in nature communications examined sea slugs and their ability to store memories to see how they form. due to the simplistic nature of a sea slug’s memory, they wanted to break things down even further by investigating whether or not individual cell types also hold some form of memory.
they found that nerve tissue and kidney tissue cells have their own recall abilities, and they use them to explore and learn in their environment.
the researchers used a specific pattern, known as the spacing effect, that drives better memory retention in the human brain when exposed to stimuli. the cells they looked at performed similarly to human brain cells by switching on genes that play a role in the storage of memories.
getting back to the type of memories stored, cells that are able to perform this recall can do so based solely on their experiences. so, a kidney tissue cell, for example, will only remember kidney cell activities. but what exactly does that mean?
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well, if a kidney is exposed to patterns of nutrients, salts, or fluids in the body, it will begin to recognize those patterns and then act accordingly once it has enough information to identify the typical delivery of these nutrients.
when looking at pancreatic cells, those tasked with releasing insulin in response to sugar intake also recognize patterns. if they are exposed to specific patterns of sugar intake, they will adjust and release insulin based on that now-stored memory.

getting fat cells to forget obesity

reprogramming the cells in the body isn’t easy, mainly because these metabolic cells are designed to hold onto body weight. unfortunately, the science isn’t yet at a place where researchers can offer an intervention to target this cell memory and reverse it to make weight loss and maintenance more manageable for people living in larger bodies.
while theories suggest that if a person keeps the weight off for a long enough time, the new patterns will overwrite the old ones, more research is needed on the effects of these patterns as well as the influence that certain nutritional food supplements could have on this cell memory of obesity. as of writing, there are no known ways to hinder cell memory and make it easier for people to lose weight when they have obesity.
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that said, since this weight-holding and gaining effect occurs on a cellular level, it may help people better understand how complex a disease obesity is and provide some solace to those who have tried time and again to reach a healthy weight but felt as though their bodies were against them. because, as it turns out, on some cellular level, they have been.
research will continue to investigate these cellular memories and what can be done to erase their experience of obesity in a way that helps those living in larger bodies reach and maintain a healthy weight.
angelica bottaro
angelica bottaro

angelica bottaro is the lead editor at healthing.ca, and has been content writing for over a decade, specializing in all things health. her goal as a health journalist is to bring awareness and information to people that they can use as an additional tool toward their own optimal health.

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