Dhaka, Sept. 30 -- Body fat has long been cast as the enemy. Diet culture urges us to burn it, food companies market low-fat products, and social media is full of advice on how to get as lean as possible. But scientists say this obsession with fat loss is misguided -- and potentially dangerous.

"We have to love our fat," says Elif Oral, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. "It plays such an important biological function."

Far from being inert tissue, body fat is an active organ. It stores and releases energy, produces hormones, regulates body temperature and signals to the brain how much fuel the body has available, reports BBC.

The hormone leptin, produced by fat cells, tells the brain that energ...