Benefits of brown fat
Stop the presses! Doctors are finally admitting that there is actually a kind of fat that doesn’t need to be ruthlessly eradicated by diet, exercise, or a long list of pharmaceutical products. And here’s the kicker: scientists think that getting people to increase this kind of fat could be a new way to attack the obesity epidemic.
This miracle fat is called “brown adipose tissue,” and is commonly called “brown fat.” It’s not a new discovery, either. Scientists have known for years that this fat helps small mammals – including human babies and small children – generate body heat by burning calories.
People have always just assumed that the amount of this fat dwindles to nothing by the time people reach adulthood. But three studies just published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine indicate that most adults could have enough brown fat to help us lose weight.
Yes, you read that right: this is a fat that helps you lose weight.
Nuclear medicine specialists came across patients who had fatty deposits that consumed energy rather than stored it (white adipose tissue – regular fat – saves energy rather than burn it). This led to a study that yielded some remarkable information.
An author of one of the new studies, Dr. Aaron Cypess of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, reviewed PET-CT scans of nearly 2,000 patients. The people who had brown fat tended to be leaner and younger. The old and obese (and, interestingly, those taking prescription beta blocker heart drugs) weren’t as likely to have brown fat.
Another study found that people with brown fat were able to metabolize glucose at a rate 15 times higher than normal when exposed to cold.
According to Swedish professor Jan Nedergaard of the University of Stockholm, who has studied brown fat for years, this naturally occurring substance “can be a very significant player in the game of how we react to the food we eat and whether we store it or burn it away.”
It’s all fascinating and exciting. Of course, the only thing researchers know at this point is that it exists. No word yet on how to activate it, or how to use it in the fight against obesity. I’ll keep you posted.
