The Power of Brown

Those crazy scientists - always up to something. Back in 2009 I mentioned a story about the different types of fat that we have in our body. In this wellness weekly, I explained a little of what was being discovered and noted that the issue didn't get as much press as I'd expect. I did think that some company would continue to diligently work to somehow make the finding into an obesity treatment. Really, I said that and you can check by clicking the highlighted link.

The body does have two types of fat cells. They are usually simply referred to as brown and white. They are very different. Without delving into too much biology, our body is made up of cells, tissues and organs. The cells have engines that require energy in order to divide, reproduce, secrete substances, etc. That energy for us is ATP which is created in the cell with oxygen. (Exercise can improve ATP production). The engines are actually mitochondria. Every cell has at least one, and as you might guess, the more mitochondria a cell has, the more energy it will need to keep those engines running or working.

Researchers at Harvard and elsewhere, have found that the brown fat cells have an abundance of mitochondria where as white fat cells do not. Thus, the brown fat burns calories or uses energy and the white fat stores it.

Most of us understand that too much energy in, in the form of food, can lead to an increase in white fat cells. What researchers what to do is figure out a way to get more brown fat cells. So far it seems that babies have the most brown fat but as babies become more able to do things, like move around to create energy and body heat, they have less and less brown fat. If they eat too much, well, then they have too much white fat.

A specific protein in our body is the trigger for brown fat cell production. This protein can also stimulate the transformation of white fat cells TO brown fat cells. Holy Cows, now that would be something. Scientists are exploring ways to make the body create more of the protein (through gene expression), or find a chemical that will mimic the protein, or find a way to make the protein more powerful - all to get more brown fat cells in the body. In a WSJ article on this same topic, a Netherlands researcher cautioned that increasing energy burn in a person might also increase appetite. He was concerned that people who still eat too much.

Another idea on the minds of researchers is exposing people to cold temperatures. Apparently, being in cold air can stimulate brown cell activity. Unfortunately, in the two or three experiments testing this hypothesis, it only worked with the lean people. Obese people have more insulation - as they have more white fat cells, and the job of the white cell is to conserve energy and insulate the person. White fat cells are very good at their job.

My coworkers keep the air condition blowing cold most of the day at work so I have now started to accuse them of making me lose weight.

Recently I wrote a piece about the need to stay dynamic in your weight control - weight maintenance. This was in regards to the research on middle age weight gain and needing to modify exercise AND calorie programs to make up for plateaus. It is clear from this Harvard research that pills do not change any of that. It is always going to be a matter of energy in and energy out. I am beginning to think, however, that some persons who have over consumed and over consumed the worst foods (processed) may really have irreversibly damaged some of the intricate chemical and hormonal workings of their metabolic systems. They may need more than diet and exercise, but that is a very small group of people and always always, pills and surgeries should be the last effort not the first.