There is a lot of buzz in the news today about Brown Fat. So what is brown fat and how does it help with weight loss? Research is raising hopes that brown fat may someday be used to help people control their weight.
Until about three years ago, it was assumed that brown fat exists in infants, because they don’t shiver like adults, and their body use it to keep warm, and animals such as mice, but until recently, they assumed it disappeared before adulthood. Its clear to me now, why doctors alway tell parents not to dress the kids too warm in cold weathers, with this info it makes a lot of sense.
Today scientific researchs discovered that adults have it too, in small amounts in the upper back, on the side of the neck, in the dip between the collarbone and the shoulder, and along the spine.
Scientists may have uncovered a new way to speed up the body’s metabolism by activating its fat cells. Through extensive research into the roles of brown and white fat, scientists are now starting to understand how fat is a unique organ, and is important as the liver or kidneys.
White Fats Vs Brown Fats
White fat is associated with storing energy and weight gain, whereas brown fat is responsible for burning energy by generating heat from calories. Brown fat contains organic enzymes that allow the energy from food calories to be released directly as heat. Brown fat exists in infants and animals such as mice, but until recently, they assumed it disappeared before adulthood.
Currently, the only way to stimulate the production of brown fat is to stay cold — near shivering, for extended periods of time, reproducing the conditions that led to it’s evolution.
Brown fat and Diabetes
While researchers are looking at more comfortable ways to activate brown fat, don’t turn down your thermostats expecting quick results just yet. According to the studies, brown fat “might” be able to burn off 10 pounds of fat in a year when fully stimulated.
This spring sees the conclusion of several studies in The New England Journal of Medicine, that confirm brown fat is both common in adults, and important to the metabolism. Results show that younger, thinner people have more detectable brown fat than older, chubbier counterparts.
Despite these breakthroughs, scientists are still discovering exactly how fat integrates into the body as an complex biological organ.