Decidedly, the “brown” fat never ceases to be talked about. At the end of July, a new study1 found that people with high levels of brown fat were able to better regulate their blood sugar levels, and therefore may have a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
These results confirm what several studies have highlighted in recent years: brown adipose tissue plays an important role in the body’s metabolism and energy balance. According to some researchers, it could even constitute a track of treatment against diabetes and obesity.
White adipocytes in excess
You should know that brown adipocytes, these cells that make up brown fat, tend to burn lipids to produce heat and maintain body temperature, unlike their “white” counterparts which store them. In other words, brown adipose tissue consumes energy; white, on the other hand, constitutes fat reserves …
The problem is that white adipocytes are very much in the majority. So much so that, until 2009, researchers believed that brown fat only existed in newborns and then disappeared. Today, we know that scattered clusters of brown adipocytes remain in adults, in varying proportions.
The study by Texas researchers, published at the end of July in the journal Diabetes, compared the metabolism of adults with a lot of brown fat to that of adults with much less. This difference in “constitution” could be determined by imaging (CT scanner). Thus, seven of the participants presented brown adipose tissue, the other 5 seemed devoid of it.
Cold for more brown fat
To “activate” the brown fat, the researchers made their 12 guinea pigs stay at a chilly temperature – that is 1°C higher than the temperature at which the subjects were shivering – for 5 to 8 hours. They performed various analyzes and blood samples (oxygen consumption, hormonal changes, insulin levels, blood sugar, etc.) after exposure to cold and at normal temperature.
In men with brown fat, exposure to cold had the effect of significantly increasing energy expenditure (15%), improving insulin sensitivity (and therefore its effectiveness), and so on. ” improve glycemic control, that is to say the level of sugar in the blood. In other words, this tissue could have an “anti-diabetic and anti-obesity” effect, as stated in a statement by Labros Sidossis, who conducted the study.
Other recent studies have shown that prolonged exposure to cold significantly increases the amount of brown fat in the body. Could a little trip to the North help diabetics? The track is in any case taken seriously by researchers.
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