Brown fat may protect against chronic conditions

A new study of 52,000 people, published in Nature Medicine, a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal, found that individuals with detectable brown fat were less likely than others to suffer from cardiac and metabolic conditions including coronary artery disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

Brown fat is metabolically active unlike white fat which stores calories. Brown fat cells burn energy and produce heat. Researchers have been working to understand and harness the activity of brown fat in order to treat obesity. This new study, the largest of its kind in humans was made possible by studying PET scans from more than 52,000 people.

The study is important for human health as the mechanisms by which brown fat contributes to better health is only now been discovered. The scientists believe that brown fat cells consume glucose in order to burn calories and may also participate In hormonal signalling to organs.

Previous studies (see Rawpt ‘Health benefits linked to temperature variation’) have shown that exposure to environments outside a comfortable temperature, for example turning down the thermostat at home and spending time outdoors in variable temperatures were linked to an increase in healthy brown fat. Another study (see Rawpt ‘Exercise hormone irisin helps the physically active stay slender’) found that levels of the hormone irisin rise during exercise and this switches on genes that help to convert white fat into brown fat.