Brown fat redux – still no quick fix for burning fat

When I wrote on the brown fat phenomenon over a year ago, there was a fair amount of media hype about how activating our stores of brown fat could be the key to triggering effortless weight loss. My conclusion at the time was (and still is) the following:

As you can see, these brown fat deposits are minimal. And while there is some evidence that this type of fat is stimulated by exposure to colder temperatures, there is no solid evidence to date that brown fat activation alone can significantly alter one’s metabolism.

So bottom line, if you’re looking to jack up your metabolism and burn your existing fat stores, a much better approach would be to engage in Power Law training and primal eating.

Alternatively, you could always wait for Big Pharma to come up with a drug designed to stimulate the tiny amounts of brown fat in your body. While this may take a few of years (and might include a number of nasty side effects), it would be easier than eating well and being active in the elements as Nature intended.

Well it turns out that Big Pharma is not the only one interested in tapping into the brown fat fad. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany are genetically engineering lab rats to produce higher levels of the enzyme COX-2, which triggers development of fat cells to become brown fat instead of white fat.

But as usual, the potential future “magic bullet” solution for obese humans could be a bit ghastly. Per the scientists:

Scientists could now try using stem cells to generate brown fat cells in a lab dish to then implant them into the body and help speed up calorie burn.

Isn’t it far easier – let alone safer – to just eat the right foods and do the right types of exercise?

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