Ever thought body fat could help you lose weight? Well, it turns out that one kind does. Brown fat actually burns calories to generate body heat, unlike the more familiar white fat that stores calories. Until recently, scientists had believed that brown fat was found only in infants and some animals, which both use it to stay warm. But three groundbreaking studies have not only identified brown fat in adult humans but found that its calorie-burning mode can be switched on by subjecting people to a chilly environment. Tiny pockets of the heat-producing fat—found along the upper back, on the sides of the neck, between the collarbone and shoulder, and along the spine—were more plentiful in young, thin people with lower blood glucose levels but could be detected in most others, too. Next, research will focus on how to activate brown fat without the need for meat-locker temperatures. If successful, that could someday lead to powerful antiobesity medications.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine, April 9, 2009