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When it comes to the battle of the bulge, putting on more muscle will burn extra calories even when you're resting. But recent research suggests that there might be a particular type of fat that also uses up more energy than the typical off-white stuff that tends to congregate around American midsections: brown fat.
This tissue turns food energy directly into heat. It was thought to exist only in babies, to help them keep warm. But it’s recently been found—in small quantities—in adults, too. Mostly distributed in our necks and shoulders. And a new study finds that when adult men are chilly, those with more brown fat burn through more calories keeping warm. The results are in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. [Veronique Ouellet, et al., "Brown Adipose Tissue Oxidative Metabolism Contributes to Energy Expenditure During Acute Cold Exposure In Humans"]
The researchers found that those subjects with the most brown fat saw the biggest boost in their metabolism when they were subjected to cold for three hours.
Although scientists are interested in brown fat’s obesity-battling possibilities, don't count on a calorie-crunching injection in a meat locker anytime soon. For now, we have to burn calories the old fashioned way—or avoid them in the first place.
—Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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4 Comments
Add CommentAnother article that will come in extremely handy when, in 2020, the full research is finally published, and we can say at the cocktail party, "Well, of course; I already knew that."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWomen have more fat under their skin which makes them to appear more bulgy(roundish body features) when compared to men.I think women have more of this brown fat than men.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't agree with you. It's not likely that people who have more fat would have more brown fat for sure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUCSF stem cell and diabetes researcher Shingo Kajimura reported this week that TZDs — in this case pioglitazone (Actos) -- can be used to help convert white fat to fat-burning brown fat in culture and in mice, by stabilizing a protein that Kajimura earlier discovered is needed to make a precursor cell develop into a brown fat cell.Original research article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413112000502
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVideo from UCSF: http://bit.ly/zllSpK
Story from UCSF: http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/03/11627/teaching-fat-cells-burn-calories