As a Personal Trainer Los Angeles I teach that sometimes in life the very things we avoid are the ones that can help us the most, as It might turn out to be the case in our constant battle with the bulge, that the best weapon against fat could be fat.
It has been revealed that it’s the type of fat that makes all the difference, so don’t go out and think you can eat all the fat that you want and get lean. We don’t want it to end up like the “fat free” bandwagon, when we all thought …wow this is cool i can now eat a whole bag of cookies and not gain weight, wrong! History has shown us that this most certainly is not the case.
A type of adipose tissue called brown fat tends to burn calories rather than store them. As the human body is built for survival, the body has a tendency to store more white fat, so that it can have calories to burn at a time the body is not getting sufficiently nourished. However, brown fat due to its effectiveness in being utilized as energy, may be a useful alley for weight loss. There is ongoing research that is positive so far in substantiating this to be so.
In a study published in the journal Science, a group of European scientists at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, report that they have discovered a way to make regular white fat act more like the calorie-hungry brown fat and melt away pounds in overweight animals.
The study found that boosting (COX-2) or cyclooxygenase an enzyme with a variety of physiological functions, such as regulating blood pressure, and muscle contraction, caused white fat cells to act like brown cells, with mice studied dropping 20% of their body weight. There was a lot of excitement around the benefits of brown fat, but until this study there was no clinical research to make its case founded. The pharmaceutical Celebrex a painkiller, takes advantage of (COX-2′s) role in inflammation by blocking the enzyme’s activity.)
Recently scientists identified the first evidence of brown-fat in adults, being located in the neck region. Brown fat has long been known to be present in infants to generate heat at birth , and various animals such as mice, but this is the first time it has been evidenced in human beings. as until now scientists had thought that it dissipated during adulthood, with only the fat boosting white cells remaining. The reason why brown cells are so beneficial, is that they contain a significant amount of mitochondria, and an enzyme that makes them burn calories as heat, which is hoped can be activated to help burn fat. Indeed, younger, more conditioned subjects have more prominent amounts of brown fat, than older less conditioned subjects.
It is being discovered that fat, rather than being a dormant mass, now has a complex biological function, as significant to the body as say the kidneys. It is thought that fat secretes hormones and signaling mechanisms that can have an influence on the body’s wellness. This is not by any means a barometer to promote fat, as nearly 35 per cent of Americans are obese, with much of their fat being visceral ( stored around the organs), which is associated with many of the modern day disease epidemics, such as cancer or stroke.
As with most research being made today, it is outdated by newer research by the time it is printed, the potential for more findings of the benefits of brown fat for weight loss is exciting.
The European team of scientists showed a more calculable way of making fat useful, and that is to get the more plentiful white fat to act like brown fat and burn more calories. The team showed that this transformation, and resulting weight loss, was not only based on a boost in (COX-2) activity, but can also be influenced by a colder environment. This is very beneficial as it avoids the potential harmful side-effects that can be associated with boosting the COX-2 enzymes, such as clotting and in some cases increased sensitivity to pain.
From the journal Science
“Herzig found that manipulating the COX-2 pathway switched white fat to brown fat in the mice only when he simulated cold temperatures through metabolic tweaks — dilating small blood vessels and increasing the pumping of the heart — and made the rodents act as if they were shivering.”
“Based on his findings, Herzig believes that brown fat may originate from a mother cell of adipose tissue that by default tends to make white fat. But under certain conditions, such as those mimicking a cold environment, these progenitor cells can be induced to make more brown fat. (Two studies last year, including the one describing brown-fat stores in human adults, found that brown-fat cells become more active in the cold.) And while it’s not clear how much brown fat would be needed to have an effect on body weight, he suspects that it wouldn’t take much. “Based on estimates on animal models, 50 grams of brown fat might be sufficient to increase overall energy consumption in human beings by 20%,” he says. “So you would need to activate a relatively little amount of brown fat to substantially impact overall energy metabolism.”
This is all positive stuff for a modern day society that has a wide-spread disposition to eat a diet that is convenient, but packs on the weight! To be able to use something as plentiful as adipose fat, to influence weight loss is certainly an awesome prospect.
There is also some research being done by American scientists that are focusing on various proteins, including one called BMP-7 that aids bone development. One researcher found that BMP-7 increases the production and is effecting in warding off obesity in mice. The FDA has approved a BMP-7 drug for use in spinal surgery. The researchers are now testing the drug’s effect to see if it is capable of increasing brown fat levels too.
The immediate thing we can do is spend time in the cold, so that our brown fat will get a natural boost, and the day may soon come that we can take a pill, much like we do our vitamins that will rev up our brown fat through a molecular level, and crank up our metabolisms for us to lose weight!!!
-NicholasIf you are in the Los Angeles area and you would like a complimentary one-on-one assessment with Personal Trainer in L.A. Nicholas Barrett, please don't hesitate to get in touch! Personal trainer Los Angeles. Los Angeles personal trainer. Personal trainer marina del rey.
