Fight Fat with Brown Fat

New research has found a type of fat called “brown fat” that may be a key to burning body fat. While we’re familiar with “white fat,” which stores calories and is responsible for the more than 30 percent of Americans who are obese, brown fat does the opposite. It generates heat, which in turn burns calories.

Brown fat is something we’re born with, and researchers thought we lost over time. However, they are now finding it in adults, according to three studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Where will you find brown fat?

• Adults with good blood sugar
• Less likely in obese people
• Common in women and younger people

They say they are about 5-10 years away from being able to determine how safe or effective this discovery will be. The hope is that people could potentially burn about nine pounds each year.

*Source: CBS News*