Heard of brown fat?

Fat is essential for the body as it provides energy for carrying out all the activities. But there are many other reasons why your body needs fats. This also holds true for brown fat. Until some time back, scientists believed that this type of fat existed only in human infants and rodents. However, the recent studies show that brown fat is also found in adults. This fat is actually brown in color and hence it is called brown fat. It constitutes certain metabolically active, heat generating fat cells that are present in varying amounts in different people. In fact slender and young people have more brown fats than the obese community does and in many obese people, this fat is completely absent. Brown fat is also present in good amount in infants and is instrumental in protecting the baby from freezing to death when left in cold for long. Similarly, people with slender body have more brown fat and remain lean because this fat produces around 300 times more thermal energy or heat than any other body organ.

Brown fat burns fat

According to a new study, brown fat actually burns the other fat when your body becomes cold. That is why brown fat is also known as calorie-incinerator. Whenever your body becomes cold, the brown fat turns on its fat burning action. Another important breakthrough that has come forward is that regular exercising converts the regular white fat into brown fat.

A specific type of scanning also revealed that glucose was not the main source of energy for these types of cells. When their own supply of fat are used up, these cells start burning the white fat cells for producing energy. Approximately 250 calories are burnt in this way by the brown fat in a period of three hours.

Brown fat is also present in some measure in the white fat and is weaved all through the white fat, which makes it difficult to identify the presence of brown fat during scanning. According to a study conducted on mice, the Irisin hormone converts the ordinary fat cells into brown fat when they exercise. Researchers believe that similar action must be taking place when humans exercise because the composition of Irisin found in humans is similar to those found in the mice. However, even though humans and mice have similarity in their DNA, all the results of studies on mice are not applicable to humans and hence, a lot more is still to be studied upon before finally coming to conclusion about the brown fat.

Brown fat is present in more amounts in lean and slim people and more or less absent in obese people. This indicates that brown fat contributes in some way to burn calories faster.

Brown fat and weight loss

Brown fat cells constitute mitochondria in large amounts and secrete an enzyme that allows these cells to release energy as heat directly from the food calories. That is the reason why it is found in more amounts in thin and slender people whereas it is almost absent in obese people. Although the studies related to brown fat and its impact on weight loss are still in infant stage, doctors are now certainly confident that brown fat is not just a lifeless, blueberry mass, but rather is a complex biological organ, that is as important as kidneys or the liver. Scientists now believe that these fats secrete signaling molecules and hormones that play an important role in coordination of health and behavior.