Brown fat vs. white fat: Babies have a lot of it – this fat helps you lose weight
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Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 11:21 a.m
Nutrition professional Uwe Knop explains how white and brown fat work when losing weight. What is the difference and how do they affect our body? And what role does it play in weight loss? Could brown fat even become the next “game changer” against obesity?
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What is the difference between brown and white fatty tissue?
Brown adipose tissue contains many mitochondria, which are our little human power plants that produce energy. You can easily convert fat into heat. They are like one Heating, so they create a lot of “hot air” – and only they can do that. The brown fatty tissue is our unique tissue chemical energy directly into heat can convert. And you can’t see it, it “fires in secret”. White fatty tissue, on the other hand, is something we all know: it floats around unintentionally on the stomach, legs and buttocks – where it is mainly used to store energy. In short: white fat makes us fat and brown fat makes us warm.
About the expert Uwe Knop
Uwe Knop, born in 1972, is a qualified nutritionist, author, and speaker for lectures at professional associations, companies and at medical training courses. His book “Successfully lose weight and stay slim” was published by Springer-Verlag.
How does brown adipose tissue affect the body’s energy consumption and can it help with weight loss?
Brown adipose tissue can increase the body’s energy consumption by converting fat into heat – previously called “fat burning”, the technical term is “thermogenesis”. This “hot fat fire” can help burn calories and therefore aid weight loss – all without exercise.
That sounds like the real weight loss dream, like the ultimate “game changer” in the fight against obesity: Just lie down, chill out and the brown fat will make me slim by burning excess calories while I do nothing and feel comfortable too gets warm.
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Who has a lot of brown fat and why?
The point goes to the babies: Newborns usually have a lot of brown fat because it helps them regulate their body temperature – because they cannot yet shiver and thus generate heat through rapid muscle contraction. Unfortunately, over the course of life, the brown fat no longer decreases; it doesn’t even remain the same amount; unfortunately, it becomes less and less.
In adults, the amount of brown fat tissue can vary from person to person. One hypothesis is that people who regularly cold temperatures are exposed to or do a lot of exercise tend to be able to activate more brown adipose tissue. Some data also suggests that overweight people have less brown fat than people of normal weight, and young people have more brown fat than old people.
Are there ways to increase the amount of brown fat tissue in the body?
Research is going on like crazy here. This is understandable, because whoever finds a way to increase the amount of brown fat tissue in the body will earn a golden nose. The answer can be derived from this: There are many hypotheses, approaches and theories, but nothing is certain. This means that no one currently knows how to not only increase brown fat but also activate it more – so there are no drugs or other substances with this effect yet.
It is considered one of the currently “hottest candidates” as a brown fat booster exposure to cold. But who cares about being exposed to the cold and freezing all the time? But it’s thought that brown adipose tissue gets exercised when we get cold – and that could lead to improvements in metabolism and a small loss of fat mass, but that’s all just speculation on the back burner.
Book recommendation (advertisement)
“Successfully lose weight and stay slim” by Uwe Knop
Until then, what is the “magic formula” for sustainable weight loss?
Attention, now comes a secret: Stand in front of the mirror and repeat three times in a row: “Simsalabim – i wanna be slim”. Nothing happens? It’s a shame, but that was to be expected – as with all promises of quick and easy weight loss. But there are no miracle cures or magic formulas on the way to your ideal weight. Most of the time, the mind switches off and wishful thinking turns on – and many people who want to lose weight fall for the tempting promises of self-proclaimed nutrition experts, coaches and influencers.
The reality is completely different: Sustainable weight loss, i.e. losing weight successfully and staying slim, is hard, long, even lifelong work. It’s usually a rocky road, but it’s doable because you don’t necessarily have to count calories to lose weight. If you would like to tackle the weight loss project now: Here you will find everything you need to know: “Beach figure by summer! How to start losing weight now”
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