What is Brown Fat
This type of fat is found in mammals. This fat is one of a special type that is capable of producing heat. In our body there is white fat also. The main difference between brown fat and the white fat is that, white fat stores energy for emergency use while the brown fat is there to burn calories and provide the body with useful energy.
The brown fat has caught the attention of the scientist due to its ability to burn excess fat. Hence attempts are made to utilize brown fat in weight loss regime.
Brown fat is basically brown adipose tissues or BAT. this type fat is mostly found in the following areas of our body
- Chest
- Neck
- Back areas
This type of fat is triggered by cold and comes into play for generation of heat with the help of burning the fat. This natural process of the body is called thermogenesis which means regulation of temperature of the body by the body’s own natural mechanism.
Read more to learn how to burn the fat , how to reduce excess body weight, and how you can harness the health benefits!
Benefits of Active Brown Fat
- Improved blood circulation
- Regulation of blood sugar
- Reduced risk of becoming obese
- Increases life-expectancy
How to increase the amount of brown fat
Exposure to cold
As brown fat is activated when the temperature of the body falls, therefore one way of activating the brown fat is to provide the body with cold exposure. As soon as the body senses that there is a drop in temperature, the body mechanism signal for the activation of the brown fat to generate heat in order to maintain an average temperature bearable for the body.
The way to expose your body to cold temperature can be through ice-bath, sleeping in a room where the temperature is cool and walking in a cold environment for a long time.
Scientific research to know the various aspects of the brown fat with an aim to utilize the role of the brown fat has revealed that the brown fat shows no improvement when the temperature fluctuations are very less. The reason why the brown fat concentration is so low in people nowadays is remaining in air conditioned room or in rooms with heating arrangements.
Resorting to regular exercise
Research has shown that those who exercises regularly have a elevated level of brown fat. The level of BAT is sensitive to hard training. If you can practice high intensity hard training or resistance training it will surely help in increasing the level of brown adipose tissues.
Also when we do fitness trainings the body try to convert white fat into brown fat due to the enhanced protein responsible for the conversion. It is found that the younger people who follow an active life doing intense physical exercise have better concentration of brown fat when compared to the older people leading a sedentary lifestyle.
Having a healthy diet
The diet should be rich in protein as well as the healthy fat in order to increase the brown fat of the body. Studies have found that the diet that is rich in protein as well as healthy fat helps in raising the level of brown fat. Supplements specifically meant for raising the brown fat can also be taken for increasing the amount of brown fat of the body.
Taking some specific supplements may help
Curcumin of turmeric
Curcumin that is mostly available in turmeric is a famous anti-inflammatory as well as anti-obesity compound. How the curcumin works in raising the concentration of brown fat is not yet clearly known. It seems that it might be activating the gin which supports brown fat generation.
Capsaicin found in spicy foods
Capsaicin is founds in chili peppers. This compound has a thermogenic property increasing the body temperature. The thermogenesis process burns calories and increases the oxidation of fat. It helps in the conversion of white fat into brown fat.
Caffeine
You can find caffeine in a number of drinks that may include coffee, tea etc. studies have shown that caffeine has the ability to enhance the concentration of brown fat. But the negative point of caffeine intake are sleep disturbance, headache and risk of developing heart issues.
Melatonin
Melatonin is the body’s natural sleeping hormone. In addition to aiding in sleeping and following a wake cycle pattern the ingredient also burn fat by causing oxidation of fat.
Omega 3 or fish oil
Fish oil containing polyunsaturated fatty acid has anti-inflammatory properties. It assists in enhancing brown fat of the body.
Resveratrol or Red Wine
Resveratrol is present in the fruit grapes. But for increasing brown fat you require to take a large amounts of resveratrol through fresh fruit or by the use of red wine.
Cryotherapy
This is a therapy targeted to increase the brown fat by exposing the body to temperature fluctuations. The cryotherapy centers are also called sauna. The temperature within the therapy chamber is kept within -129 degree celsius and -184 degree celsius.
The needs which the cryotherapy serves are relieving muscle soreness, curing inflammation, improving the performance of high performers and also aiding in achievement of weight loss.
Many believes that cryotherapy also increase the amount of brown fat of the body thereby enhancing the calorie expense leading to weight loss.
Medications
Some medications are claimed to increase brown fat of the body. Such medications are Beta-33 agonists which is approved by the FDA for treating specific conditions.
Foods that increases brown fat
- Protein
- Healthy fats
- Micronutrients
Conclusion
Brown fat is found in some particular areas of the body. The body utilizes the brown fat for increasing the temperature when the temperature of their body declines. Therefore for increasing the brown fat exposure to lower freezing temperature may be fruitful.
Activation of brown fat by different ways mentioned in the article has many health benefits such as shedding excess fats, weight reduction, improved insulin sensitivity, treatment of obesity as well as increasing the life-expectancy.
The body activates the brown fat through a natural process called thermogenesis. Hence it is also possible to activate brown fat through different external means of creating thermogenesis in the body.
