Brown Fat Helps Weigth Loss
September 5th, 2010Brown fat is a metabolically active form of fat involved with heat production. It’s involved in triglyceride metabolism, and it is activated by thyroid hormone and appears to respond to vitamin C, zinc, and copper.
While the role of brown fat is not entirely understood, it seems to produce a hormone that promotes rapid burning of the fuels in foods - thermogenesis.
The more brown fat a person has, the better his or her body is able to produce heat and, in turn, burn calories. Brown fat thus becomes useful in weight control and weight loss.
It’d been observed that those people with little brown fat have a “freezer” type metabolism. They don’t burn foods well, and a lot of what they eat turns to ordinary fat. If they don’t do anything to increase their thermogenesis, even a small number of calories - as few as 600 per day - may be too many.
People with a lot of brown fat have a “furnace” type metabolism. They burn body fuels rapidly, and the more they consume, the more they burn, all the while maintaining a stable weight. These people seem able to eat all kinds of foods and remain slim. The more fuel they throw into the system, the more they burn, just like coals on a fire.
You may have noted in the past, that if you go out for a big meal at night and sit down afterward in a coat or sweater, you feel warmer than you normally would. That’s because your body is burning the foods you have eaten and is producing heat.
Those with a freezer type metabolism won’t notice this phenomenon because their bodies not burning the fuels as they should. This can be the reason why some can lose weight on the stereotypical the high protein and low carb diets, while others can’t.
Genetics seems to play a role in how the body handles brown fat.
At autopsy every individual is found to have minute deposits of brown fat around the kidneys and the main artery out of the heart. But there are ways to change the percentage of brown fat in the body. Although I certainly do not advocate caffeine intake, some research suggests that caffeine stimulates brown fat by increasing the metabolic rate.
Caffeine should not be used for weight loss however. It does other things that are not as positive. It can cause heart palpitations (especially in high amounts), and it robs the body of certain vitamins and other nutrients, such as C and B.
Another way to increase brown fat metabolism is to exercise - specifically, to engage in aerobic exercise that uses oxygen. To be effective this exercise must raise the pulse rate in a certain way - see the workout in Maximize Your Metabolism.
Such exercise as brisk walking increases the thermogenic effect of brown fat by about 4 percent, and that’s an encouraging amount. a half-hour of vigorous walking four times a week can be very rewarding from a metabolic standpoint.
Other effective forms of aerobic exercise are running, bicycling, swimming, jumping rope, and rowing.
Non-caffeine supplements such as fatty acids also improve brown fat metabolism.
On the other hand, too much sodium in the diet can deactivate the brown fat and promote water retention with consequent weight gain.
Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning ‘Maximize Your Metabolism’ system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to get the full first season of his health TV show FREE - go to http://EnergyFactor.tv now…






