Fat is good!

Well, fat is good in at least some small way. Scientists have recently discovered that a protein called adiponectin that's produced by fat cells plays a heretofore unrecognized role in helping us stay healthy: it helps clear out the billion-cells-a-day that die off as part of your body's natural cleansing routine.

Imagine: our own body processes can cause inflammation if they don't operate efficiently--it's what happens when your immune system goes haywire in an allergic reaction. This discovery may help scientists understand a lot more about autoimmune diseases as well as conditions like diabetes and heart disease, which they think are also connected with poor clearance of dead cells.

It's good to know that fat isn't all bad. Of course, now they'll start giving us even more precise prescriptions of how much is too much. I'm sure we all can't wait.