Here’s the skinny on the best kind of body fat.
You’re probably familiar with white fat, the most prevalent fat throughout our body. White fat serves as our primary energy storage and protects us from falls, but our cushiony beer bellies and thunder thighs also significantly raise our risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Brown fat is the lesser-known fat but it’s considered the better type. It burns calories to produce heat when we’re exposed to chilly conditions and helps regulate metabolism.
Scientists from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School say brown fat can also enhance exercise performance and promote longevity.
“Our hypothesis is that [brown fat] protects against … obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and reduced exercise tolerance,” the researchers wrote recently in the journal Aging.
Unfortunately, we don’t have much brown fat — and we can’t really make more.
At birth, our brown fat is concentrated in our back, neck and shoulders. As we age, those cells dissipate and disperse to small deposits around our neck, kidneys, adrenal glands, heart and chest area.
Lean people tend to have more brown fat than people who are overweight.
We can activate the brown fat we’ve got with a cold shower or an ice bath. Spicy foods, green tea and apples have also shown potential.
Exercise signals our brown fat to burn more calories because physical activity stimulates our sympathetic nervous system — also known as our “fight-or-flight” response.
One study found that brown fat activity rose among rodents that ran on a treadmill for six to eight weeks.
The Rutgers scientists noted that much of the research on this topic focuses on exercise regulating brown fat and not the other way around.
They highlighted a study that involved transplanting brown fat from genetically modified mice into regular mice. The recipients had better running endurance just three days after the transplant.
Brown fat from non-modified mice took much longer to yield similar results.
The Rutgers researchers said brown fat may also help combat age-related muscle loss, fatigue and metabolism declines by enhancing blood circulation and reducing cellular stress.
They suggest developing treatments that mimic the benefits of brown fat to improve energy, weight maintenance and heart health.
