The 100-Calorie Secret - Never Diet Again!

This week ( April 2, 2009)  it was all about brown fat in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers speculated that activating brown  which is metabolically very active could form the basis of a new approach to obesity treatment.

Brown adipose tissue (called brown fat) helps babies, young children, and other small mammals stay warm by burning calories when activated by low temperatures. Two studies show it may play a role in metabolism in adults. "The incredible excitement about this is that we have an entirely new way to try to go after obesity," said Dr. Aaron Cypess of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Massachusetts He noted that activating brown fat may burn calories and lead to new ways to treat obesity.

Cypess noted people who had PET-CT  scans done in the winter had the most brown fat, while those scanned in the summer had the least; people who underwent the tests in the spring or fall fell in the middle. Brown fat was located above the collarbones and in the upper chest and consumed lots of energy while white fat  the regular fat that stores extra calories and makes us gain weight  and shows very little metabolic activity.

"The people who had brown fat were younger and leaner. People with little brown fat were older and more obese.  The maximum amount of extra energy that people with relatively large brown fat deposits can burn probably tops out at about 500 calories