White adipose tissue is the body’s main fat store — the familiar fat beneath the skin and around the organs, composed of cells each holding a single large droplet of triglyceride. Its jobs are energy storage, insulation, cushioning, and hormone production: it secretes leptin, which signals fullness, and other signalling molecules. Unlike brown adipose tissue, which burns energy to make heat, white fat is metabolically quiet — it stores rather than spends, which is why excess is hard to shift. Too much, especially around the abdomen, drives insulin resistance and inflammation; too little impairs hormones and immunity. The goal is not elimination but a healthy amount in the right places.