MuleVariationsNYC
Math ap Mathonwy
There has been some attention in the press recently about a possible breakthrough of our understanding of fat, and it's role in the human body, which I thought was worth posting here. There is a type of fat called "brown fat" which rather than storing energy, facilitates burning of energy in the form of body heat. Scientists thought for years that it only had a role in infants (and rodents) who are unable to shiver to stay warm, but had no real role in adults because they could never find it in any adults unless they had certain rare tumors.
However, new techniques in PET scanning have allowed us to detect it in adults. We're talking very tiny amounts (areas only 4 mm thick), but from an energy standpoint, brown fat is powerful stuff. 50 grams (a little over 1/10th of a pound) when maximally active can account for 20% of the average daily metabolic rate in an adult.
It's very early, but one big study published in the New England Journal has these preliminary findings:
-More common in men than women (7.5% vs. 3%)
-Brown fat falls as we age.
-Brown fat is more commonly found in people with low fasting blood sugar levels.
-If you're above age 65, low brown fat predicts for a high BMI. But not if you're younger than that.
-A number of common medications (benzodiazepines, beta blockers) as well as cigarettes seem to suppress brown fat activity.
-if you live in cold climates, you're more likely to have it.
Of course, there's still a lot more to discover. But this has implications for our understanding of:
-mechanisms of fat related insulin insensitivity in Type II diabetes.
-mechanisms of medication related weight gain which have so far eluded us.
-why some bodies are prone to burning energy and others are prone to storing it. And hopefully further strengthening in the minds of health professionals & society to be more dispassionate about different body types.
-ways to regulate and increase one's metabolism, if it would create an overall health benefit.
Here is the NY Times' summary of the NEJM article, as well as 2 other related studies.
The big drawback to this study is that it seems to involve such a small segment of the population. However proponents think it's actually not so rare, they just didn't know how to find it efficiently when they began THIS study. So stay tuned, if you like. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.
However, new techniques in PET scanning have allowed us to detect it in adults. We're talking very tiny amounts (areas only 4 mm thick), but from an energy standpoint, brown fat is powerful stuff. 50 grams (a little over 1/10th of a pound) when maximally active can account for 20% of the average daily metabolic rate in an adult.
It's very early, but one big study published in the New England Journal has these preliminary findings:
-More common in men than women (7.5% vs. 3%)
-Brown fat falls as we age.
-Brown fat is more commonly found in people with low fasting blood sugar levels.
-If you're above age 65, low brown fat predicts for a high BMI. But not if you're younger than that.
-A number of common medications (benzodiazepines, beta blockers) as well as cigarettes seem to suppress brown fat activity.
-if you live in cold climates, you're more likely to have it.
Of course, there's still a lot more to discover. But this has implications for our understanding of:
-mechanisms of fat related insulin insensitivity in Type II diabetes.
-mechanisms of medication related weight gain which have so far eluded us.
-why some bodies are prone to burning energy and others are prone to storing it. And hopefully further strengthening in the minds of health professionals & society to be more dispassionate about different body types.
-ways to regulate and increase one's metabolism, if it would create an overall health benefit.
Here is the NY Times' summary of the NEJM article, as well as 2 other related studies.
The big drawback to this study is that it seems to involve such a small segment of the population. However proponents think it's actually not so rare, they just didn't know how to find it efficiently when they began THIS study. So stay tuned, if you like. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.
