There's a good kind of fat and it can actually help you avoid, well, being fat.
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) have revealed that individuals with increased levels of brown adipose tissue, or simply brown fat, have better metabolism levels, better blood sugar control and higher sensitivity to insulin.
It turns out brown fat can burn calories and increase the amount of energy expended by the body when subjected to cold temperatures. "This is good news for overweight and obese people. Of even greater clinical significance maybe the finding that brown fat can help the body regulate blood sugar more effectively. This is great news for people with insulin resistance and diabetes and suggests that brown fat may prove to be an important anti-diabetic tissue," said Professor of Internal Medicine at UTMB's Division of Geriatric Medicine Labros Sidossis.
The UTMB study was carried out by comparing two groups of men, one with high levels of brown fat and the other low levels, by testing for resting energy expenditure, insulin sensitivity and glucose usage. Participants were placed in either mildly cold temperatures or normal temperature conditions for five to eight hours and various bodily samples were collected for the duration of the study. Breath and blood samples were taken to identify changes in insulin concentration, glucose levels, hormone changes and oxygen consumption as well as carbon dioxide production. White and brown fat tissue samples were also collected to analyze gene expressions and cellular energy production.
Research supporters include the UTMB Sealy Center on Aging, the UTMB Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, the Shriners Hospitals for Children, the UTMB Institute for Translational Sciences, the American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health.
Hal Hawkins, Fernando Cesani, Clark Andersen, Tony Chao, Christina Yfanti, Nicholas Hurren, Sebastien Labbe, Manish Saraf, Martin Lidell, Sven Enerback, Palam Annamalai, Craig Porter, Elisabet Borsheim, Elena Volpi and Maria Chondronikola were listed as researchers aside from Sidossis.
Is it possible to boost levels of brown fat in the body?
Since brown fat primarily works to regulate the body's temperature by producing heat, it is at its highest during infancy, tapering off into adulthood although small levels are retained. It is possible for brown fat to recruit other fat cells though, according to a study done on mice by Harvard's Joslin Diabetes Center. The challenge now is in finding genes responsible for fat development to determine if it is possible for people to turn white fat brown.
