if I knew I was the brow fat typ of person - then YES so.

If not - I dislike it Lol

I wanna KNOW!

You've made a great point about linking reducing obestity with 'solving' global warming - however, DON'T suggest people turn up the A/C!! That would increase carbon and lead to more climate change. Please let people know they should keep heat low but in the summer, they'll have to stay cool without increasing A/C usage.

Also keep in mind that the relationships between cold weather, brown fat and obesity are not so simple.  If it were, cold clime locations would have a less obese population than hot clime locations.

Minka

What do you have to do to have more brown than white fat?

This is neat. I can't wait to hear more about it in terms of research. :D

Very interesting.  I hope we hear more about this in the future.  It is odd how some people can eat and eat and eat and stay slim and some of us just sort of think about food and gain weight ~ well, maybe that's an exaggeration but you know what I mean.

Very cool, I knew there were different forms of fat but I had no idea they serves such different purposes. I can't wait to see if this will lead to help alleviating obesity.

I think we should all take cold showers! LOL

I knew there was a reason I moved to Wisconsin!  Maybe this weeks snowfall was actually a good thing!  :)  But I still want the snow to end!

Thats just going to add to the number of existing excuses for obese people to be obese. It will discourage people to lose weight as they think that its something which theyre stuck with. A healthy diet and exercise will help a weight problem, not what colour your fat is. Sorry, but I don't buy that. True there will be different sorts of fat but im sure if a group of obese people are monitored against a group of healthy weight people then there will be significant differences in their lifestyles and eating habits.

Interesting, depending on exactly what percentage is brown fat in the human body. Like if the most anyone had was 5% of the fat mass then its not that big of a deal. Didn't they have this same thing way back when they were encouraging people to exercise in the cold?

oh my gosh!!! from now on, no more sweaters or heater!!! I mean it's May, so I guess EXTRA A/C!!!! Very interesting information!

Am so tired of all these scientists coming up with all this stuff to get short cuts for healthy living, so how do they explain the skinny people in Africa under that hot weather where brown fat is not stimulated because its not cold

It has been said that drinking cold water burns more calories to heat the body...it the same, ain't?

Regards,

Scientists are not coming up with EXCUSES for obesity, they're providing scientific evidence of the differences in human bodies, and clarity on how physiological adaptations work.  This is nothing new, researchers have known about brown fat in babies and hibernating animals for years.  This is simply the first time they've shown in can be activated in older humans.  And while there is no substitute for a healthy diet and exercise, it is also true that some people are naturally skinny, while others can follow the same diet and exercise routine and be larger.  Obesity can be alleviated through diet and exercise, but they're not going to make most of us a size 2.

I wasn't suggesting that the scientists were making excuses, I was suggesting that some obese people might use this as an excuse for the way they are. I also realise that some people are naturally smaller than others, however people do not become obese by eating a normal amount. I think its about time that some people stop trying to find a quick fix or reason for their obesity. The problem is with the diet not with the temperature or anything else, and the sooner people stop feeling sorry for themselves that they are overweight and start dealing with the problems they have with food then they might start seeing changes.

People are skinny in Africa because of malnutrition.

I'm going to make sure I am cold at all times!

The only thing is...I HATE BEING COLD! 

I found this very interesting... now if I could just find away to have my body process cookies, cakes, pies and ice cream into Brown Fat, my life would be just about perfect.    I'd gladly endure the cold for a bit to lose a few lbs. 

If ANYONE had paid attention in middle school biology class, the difference in brown and white fat cells would be common knowledge.

The fact is, we are what we eat and are a product of our lifestyles.  We've become a fast food, lcd screen society. The pendulum will eventually swing the other way, when we're sick and tired of being sick and tired. Scientific knowledge is not going to do it. I have to change what I eat and my activities, regardless of the color of my insides.

I'm so glad Ponli knows exactly why I'm overweight. Thank you for covering all the bases for obese people, and opening my eyes so that I stop making excuses for my weight issues. Hopefully next you'll move on to fixing our economy, world hunger, and peace in the middle east.

"The problem is with the diet not with the temperature or anything else, and the sooner people stop feeling sorry for themselves that they are overweight and start dealing with the problems they have with food then they might start seeing changes."

At least we can lose weight, you'll still be a jerk.

15 years ago, I  went to work in the late fall for a factory here in indiana... we were required to work outside most of the winter and it was COLD !!!  OMG!   i despise the cold...   anyway, all i did for 10 hours a day was shiver, shiver, shiver...  I lost almost 80 lbs the first year i worked there...  I had assumed that the hard work was the reason I lost the weight, but perhaps it was indeed my brown fat kicking in trying to keep me warm... my mother suggested (and I folllowed) that I load up on carbs everyday while I was at work...  the weight just fell off...  I ended up about 30 lbs underweight...  I got out of the cold, quit smoking, and here I am !!  Counting calories !!!  Given a choice between the cold and my calories, I will keep my calories... smile...  I did find the story very interesting when it was on CNN the other day...

Original Post by: adesuwanwokedi

What do you have to do to have more brown than white fat?

There is NO way I am NOT turning down the a/c here in Houston when it starts hitting the 80's.  When 85 degrees, with a humidity level of 75% (a percentage not uncommon in TX), makes the heat index can make your body think it is 94.7 degrees.  Sorry, I am turning down my a/c.  I have to survive..and believe me, you can have every single room with a ceiling fan blowing on high and it still doesn't help.  I have to function, I have to move around and do things in my home.  Granted I keep it set at 76 to save on power bill, but I cannot sleep with it anywhere above 72..and that is with a fan blowing directly on me..

It was trying to take the short cuts, quick fixes and the line of least resistance that led to my fatness as well as other bad habits that I am contending with of at age 52. All of these ways are rooted in self-centeredness and indulgence.  For me, I have found that only mouth-denial and wise choices have kept my weight from creeping up again... not the air conditioner or liquid diets~  It is definetely the hard road but well worth it!!

I think I've known this forever. When I lived in a city with 4 seasons, I always lost tons of weight in the winter. I was always cold & I burned off fat to keep my body warm. Now that I live in a hot climate, I've gained tons of weight!

I think that anyone that participates in this site, obese or not, is interested in improving their body, nutrition and lowering their body fat percentage.  All scince is interesting and cdan give us more tools to adequately maintain a healthy lifestyle!

Did i say thats why you specifically might be overweight? I know that there are many reasons why people are overweight, however making yourself suffer being cold all day isnt the answer. I used to be overweight and realised that it was because of my life style choices. If you'll notice I also wrote SOME people, not all people. I fully accept that for most this is not the case, however there are a few people who say they dont understand why they cant lose weight but they can if they try harder and find the right programme for them. People 100 years ago didnt have this problem because they didnt eat as much as people today, NOT because they were colder!

minkavb is right! Don't blast your A/C, use very little if possible. Please for god sakes. Which reminds me of a interesting article of a lady who turned of her fridge, used it as cupboard space, but another story another time. I'm about to go out in extreme cold conditions..brown fat here I come lol (if only it was that simple..or is it *mind blown*)

Everyone move to Alaska!   LOL

I recall my first meal when I lived with a family of 5 in tropical El Salvador. As I looked at the couple of platefuls of food on the table I thought to myself "I wonder what they are going to eat".  My fatself went into shock when I realized that was for six people not just me alone! They were all healthy, slim and happy. The portions were actually normal for the rest of the world but not for America. They had never been to this country to see the totally, incredible, unhealthy, fatty, gluttoneous, expensive ways that we consume food here.  After living with them for eight weeks ,  I could have lost weight if I hadn't  consumed mass quanities of  "hidden" snacks outside of their home.  Maybe I should have turned on the a/c but oh i forgot,,,, they didn't have any!!

if i have brown fat then it is either very light brown or it's lazy brown fat. but if it burns more easily then i suppose it's cool

Cows produce more carbon than we do.  Jesus didn't drive a hummer and the earth was warmer 2000 years ago than it is today.

Many years ago I worked in a metabolism lab and we analyized fat cells from the belly versus from butt. One thing we saw was that the number of cells do not change but their sizes do with the abdominal cells shrinking in size with weight loss but not in number. The different cells seemed to vary in the way they used energy and insulin. Folks with more abdominal fat lost water weight first. Brown fat was seen on occassion but I do not remember if it came from one spot or not. Also smokers retain nicotine in theri fat cells and it was thought that since women had more fat cells thye had a harder time giving up smoking but I do not know if that was proven or not. Because I have been away from the field for more than 15 years I do not know what the latest news is.

WOW!  There sure is a lot of energy from you "posters" out there!  But, I have to share ~ when I lived in the north I was MUCH smaller than I am now, living in the south.  And, I don't tolerate the heat very well, which makes me think there could be something to this theory!  So, my conclusion is this:  the theory must be true, and I have way too many brown fat cells to be living in the south! 

Very true! Supposidly in New Zealand people there are usually thin and fit. They say its from excersising alot during the dark winter months and from food rationing during those times... hopefully more research will find out more about brown fat... and whether its ally or foe! lol....

-No A/C for me! 

Original Post by: ninidiaz

It has been said that drinking cold water burns more calories to heat the body...it the same, ain't?

Regards,

XD, you didn't think about that long did you? Its because they're starving.

Srry nini, clicked the wrong name and quoted the wrong comment. that was a comment for the person asking why African's arn't overweight.

I live in Alaska, I moved here from Africa 9 years ago... I was neither skinny from malnutrition then and I'm certainly not skinny from the cold now - Just simply a work in progress!

Okay, but now we're just gonna have a bunch of skinny people with hypothermia. This is an interesting concept, but I think there has to be more medical research done before this is implemented. Decreasing temperatures also decreases the immune response in one's body. That's why its easier to get sick in the winter than in the summer.

I wonder who is paying for all this "research" I agree with ponli. At best this is just an excuse to charge even more for the side effect riddled wonder meds they have gotten so fat on themselves (metaphorically speaking). Stupid greedy suckers! I wish they would spend that money on something worthwhile like keeping healthcare costs down.

While I am ranting has anyone had a doctor tell them they need to lose wieght unless you went in there asking for diet pills? YOu know why not? Because they make more money off of you if you're NOT healthy.  

Fat is not what actually burns calories. Its stored energy and just sits on your body waiting to be used. Muscle is what burns the calories, not this "brown fat."

I am not an expert in bio anything, but no matter what color your fat is you are going to burn more calories if you are cold.  Humans have a normal core temperature of approximately 98.6 degrees.  That means when the ambient temperature is below that number your body has to use energy (re. CALORIES) to keep you warm.  The bigger the difference between the temps of your environment and you the more calories you will have to burn per hour in order to maintain your core temperature.  Pretty sure though that being cold (and for some people miserable) isn't worth the small amount of extra calories you burn, so I would just stick to exercise.

this isn't new findings or anything? people learn this in pyshiology class in college. i took the class three years ago and was telling everyone about this... not a big deal and not the reason people are skinny or fat.

perhaps the person who said they moved from the north to the south and has had weight problems since then is having them as a result of not coping well with the heat. If you dont cope in heat then you are probably exercising less and staying indoors more and eating more? Maybe, obviously I dont know the situation but just a suggestion.

if its "global warming" why is is so freakign COLD in april?

I think that when you live in the South weight gain has nothing to do with the temperature necessarily, but more to do with the styles of foods that are eaten in the different regions.  I am originally from the midwest and now live in VA.  When I first moved here I gained 50 pounds due to great tasting but fattening southern cooking.  Not that I wasn't heavy in the Midwest, but it seemed to pile on alot faster... plus the lack of snow shoveling! LOL

This is bull. so why are people so fat in the winter and skinny in the summer? It has all to do with activity. Please!

A little bit of a temper there taynumber1! If you read my comment correctly you would see that I said "weight gain has nothing to do with the temperature."  And NO it  not ALL about activity.  You cannot exercise 3 hours a day and still eat loads of fast food, ice cream, etc.  ITS ALL ABOUT BALANCE AND MODERATION! Come on people lets not get obsessive about what color our fat is and weather or not it has to do with cold weather or hot weather and get down to basics.  Less calories, more exercise.  If we can learn anything from this scientific research and it is indeed true that cold weather increases brown fat (which, if I remember right was not proven at this point) then we can use that to our advantage and say "hey, I am not going to sit in the house all winter long, I am going to make use of this cold weather and go jogging." 

i do not believe this because i always seemed to gain weight in winter and lose it in the summer. The reason is simple, when i am cold, i tend to eat more hot food to be warm n plus im sitting around bored all day n need something to do. usually, watch longer hrs of tv n genrally stay in doors only if i HAVE to go out. During summer, i exercise n eat normal n lose so much weight in d process!