Lose Weight with "Good" Fat
We are all born with brown fat, which helps babies stay warm. It was thought that people lost their brown fat as they reached adulthood, but researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and elsewhere have found that adults still have this "good" fat in their bodies. Brown fat is a "good" fat because it takes fat calories and burns them off quickly, unlike white fat, which stores calories and can lead to weight gain. Now scientists are trying to figure out how to increase the amount of brown fat in the body and use it to help people control their weight and improve glucose levels. Studies on mice using a chemical that someday might become a drug have converted calories into this brown fat; the next step is to determine whether the same can be done in humans.
- Published:
- 25 September 2009
- | Author:
- Rebecca Sherman
