Did you know that you’re born with two different types of fat?  White fat and brown fat.  Brown fat is hardly ever mentioned because until recently it was thought that brown fat disappeared during our infant stages and that only white fat stayed in our bodies.  White fat, is the blubbery mass of metabolic inactive matter that simply stores calories and makes you overweight.  But brown fat is completely different.  It is very metabolically active since it contains high numbers of energy producing organelles called mitochondria.  5 years ago Aaron Cypess, a research associate stumbled upon a fact, that has since been studied and is now known to be true - brown fat exists in adult humans.  This was a huge finding, considering the possible implications it has on the subject of weight loss.

Studies have found that brown fat plays an important role in metabolism.  In fact, the amount of brown fat available is a direct indication on whether that person is overweight or not.  Younger, skinnier individuals have more brown fat than older, overweight individuals.

For some reason, brown fat in adults are concentrated in the neck and chest region.  Why is it located there? They don’t know…but, they do know that temperature plays a big role in activating brown fat.  It’s also more prevalent in women than men.  One theory is that the lack of muscle mass in females make them more susceptible to colder temperatures and as a result, more brown fat exists to make up for bodily heat loss. Since both muscle and brown fat are metabolically active, they can burn energy to keep the core temperature warmer when exposed to cold temperatures.

Here are some studies done on brown fat and it’s relation to colder temperatures:
Quoted from Popular Mechanics

A team led by Sven Enerbäck, a medical geneticist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, found that when subjects spent 2 hours in a cold room wearing thin clothing and intermittently soaking their feet in ice water, their brown fat burned 15 times more energy than it did at room temperature. One subject had enough brown fat to lose 8 to 9 pounds per year.

Dutch researchers found active brown fat in 23 out of 24 subjects when they were cold, but not when they were warm.

Research at the University of Nottingham in England revealed brown fat activity was closely associated with seasonal decreases in daylight as well.

Animal studies also suggest brown fat boosts weight loss. Last year, Stockholm University scientists found that mice that could not make brown fat gained weight 50 percent faster than mice that could.

In a 2008 study, mice fed a high-fat diet and kept at room temperature ended up nearly four times heavier than mice fed the same diet and housed at 39 F.

Researchers estimate that just 2 ounces of active brown fat could burn 300 to 500 calories a day. “You don’t need much to have a profound effect on your body’s metabolism,” Cypess says.

So how do you activate brown fat without having to move to the North Pole.

Well, scientists have discovered a protein that’s only present in brown fat but not in white fat.  Interestingly, when they deactivated the protein, the brown fat cells converted into muscle cells.  Talk about “literally” turning your fat into muscle!  Scientist are now trying to figure out how this protein (amongst others) can be used to help obese people lose fat.  Their ultimate goal, is to make a pill that can activate brown fat and help increase one’s metabolism so they can lose weight.  Another Phen Phen in the making?  Hope not!

In the mean time though…why not take advantage of the one thing that activates it.

Cooler temperatures.

What the heck, it’s winter!  Take advantage of it.  Go out for a brisk walk, or taking up some outdoor activity, like ice skating, cross country skiing or snow shoeing!  But, if you’re not a fan of outdoor winter activities you can always do my MAX Workouts Programs.  You don’t have to suffer in the cold to burn tons of calories.  In fact, by doing Max Workouts you can crank up your metabolism and burn fat for up to 48 hours after each workout.  So you can relax in the warm comfort of your own home while your body keeps burning the calories away.

Now that you know about brown fat…what are thoughts on it?
Would you take a brown fat activating pill or would you stick to the time tested results of exercise and clean eating?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, so post your comments below.