Feel the Burn, Thanks to Brown Fat (Pt. 1)

Studies Find A Way Adult Bodies May Fight Obesity

In this recession of higher prices, smaller paychecks and payday loans, it’s easy to fall into bad habits. This is particularly true when it comes to what we eat. If you are a fan of fast food and are pressed for time, falling back on the value menu at your local drive-thru seems easy. However, we all know that it’s making us fat. Fat is bad, right?

Unless it’s brown fat…

David Brown reports for the Washington Post that new studies indicate that the vast majority of adults possess large, active deposits of brown fat that burns calories. It may be responsible for one-fifth of the energy creatures burn while resting. While fully stimulated, brown fat tissue might be able to burn off 10 pounds over a year.

A new organ

Biologists used to believe that this kind of fat disappeared after infancy. This discovery has led experts to believe that new strategies for fighting obesity are within reach. For people in the United States, this comes at a critical juncture, as the obesity rate is staggeringly high. Health and quality of life are at stake. While stimulating brown fat is not a cure-all for obesity - eating less and exercising are still essential - it is a way to insulate the body so that it will burn off ordinary fat as heat.

Here’s how it works in simplified scientific terms, as Brown describes it. Nearly all the cells in our bodies have “power plant” mitochondria, where energy sources like sugars and fats are burned to produce ATP energy. Brown fat cells have mitochondria, but more of the ATP energy is lost as heat. Brown’s  illustration of “the work of a car engine (being) lost as heat if the car is stuck in a snowbank with its tires spinning” is useful here. KEEP ON TRUCKING to learn of the ground-breaking study! ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Feel the Burn, Thanks to Brown Fat (Pt. 1)"