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<\/a>It was once thought that only hibernating animals and newborn babies had brown fat.\u00a0 Now research shows that adults have it, too.\u00a0 It comes in small amounts, mostly at the back of the neck and along the spine.\u00a0 It\u2019s function is to keep you warm when the temperature drops.<\/p>\nHow can it help your fat loss plan?\u00a0 It is full of mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cells.\u00a0 It burns calories like crazy and turns them into heat to warm your blood.\u00a0 In effect, it burns up your white fat faster by sucking up the glucose to fuel its heater.<\/p>\n
Brown fat is a fairly recent discovery, so the full implications for weight loss is still not sure.\u00a0 However, tests done on men wearing hospital gowns in a chilly room showed their brown fat clicking on and going into active mode. The men burned more calories at a faster rate than normal. (The next time you are freezing in one of those paper gowns in a doctor\u2019s exam room, you can take comfort in the fact that you are burning fat!)<\/p>\n
Exercise, especially in a cool environment, seems to turn the brown fat heater on, too. One site I checked out recommended taking cold showers and soaking your feet in ice water to lose weight. \u00a0Personally, I think that sounds a bit extreme for an unknown quantity of weight loss benefit.\u00a0 However, there is no harm in turning down the thermostat, especially when you are exercising. Drinking ice water won\u2019t hurt, either.<\/p>\n
Shivering, by the way, stops the brown fat furnace.\u00a0 It is another technique for getting warm naturally and takes over when the temperature is too low.\u00a0 And how you could keep from shivering with your feet in ice water, I don\u2019t know!\u00a0 But, again, it’s worth a try to cool things down a bit and see if it gives your metabolism a boost.\u00a0 Won\u2019t hurt — except perhaps on your air conditioning bill.<\/p>\n
Just a reminder — all of the metabolism boosters in this series consist of easy things you can do to give your body a little push toward burning fat and calories.\u00a0 If you have a serious amount of weight to lose, a nudge won\u2019t do it.\u00a0 You need to get serious about your eating and exercise plan.\u00a0 If you are doing other things right, though, the little boosts can make the difference in how soon you see results. For most of us, the sooner the better!<\/p>\n
Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/p>\n
Susan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freeze your buns off? \u00a0Maybe not. But the latest research from several universities show that you have a kind of fat that actually helps your body lose weight when the temperature is cool.\u00a0 It\u2019s called brown fat, and is a different kind of substance than the white fat you want so much to shed. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[458,439],"class_list":["post-1597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-helpful-tips","tag-brown-fat","tag-metabolism"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>It was once thought that only hibernating animals and newborn babies had brown fat.\u00a0 Now research shows that adults have it, too.\u00a0 It comes in small amounts, mostly at the back of the neck and along the spine.\u00a0 It\u2019s function is to keep you warm when the temperature drops.<\/p>\n