In the feverish pace to discover ways for people to slim down (while in the process ignoring the persistent mushrooming of fastfood joints that vend fries and burger), scientists have stumbled upon the useful purpose of brown fat or that special kind of fat that actually burns calories instead of storing them lest they grow into, what else, but more fat. What’s more, this brown fat can be activated by simply staying in the cold (that is, if you can resist those fattening coffee concoctions while out there in the cold).
I’m not sure what sounds more palatable: brown fat or its more scientific nomenclature of “brown adipose tissue.” One thing is sure, though, and that this unique kind of fat is what ‘helps babies, young children, and other small mammals stay warm by burning calories when activated by low temperatures.’
New scientific discovery discloses that most adults keep this kind of fat, as well. Hence, this leads to a new direction in anti-obesity drugs. While the old trend helps obese people to reduce their calorie-intake, a new trend can emerge whereby drugs can ‘fire up brown fat activity and help people burn calories faster.’
Thank those nuclear medicine specialists who confirmed the existence of brown fat that consumes considerable energy in adults. This fat is located above the collarbones and in the upper chest, and they increase in cold temperatures (just imagine the layer of coagulated fat that rose up frozen on the surface of your leftover meat casserole in the fridge). Only this time, that kind of fat actually burns up calories, thereby ultimately eliminating fats. So, if there is such a thing as good cholesterol, there, too, is good fat.
Via Health.com
