What Color is your Fat?
PART ONE
I all know about fat. I know we have different kinds, stored in different places of our bodies. I know how to get rid of it. I know how to make it. But up until recently, I did not know that there are different colors of fat. Thank God, I have a child who still wants help with her homework. My daughter’s last science homework involved studying the research of Aaron Cypess, a fellow in endocrinology at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Mr. Cypess was attending a lecture which presented PET scans of adults. “Brown” fat was pointed out in many of the adults. He was surprised as he was under the impression that brown fat only existed in infants and some animals. After all, Mr. Cypess believed that white fat replaced all brown fat once humans reached adulthood.
Brown fat contains mitochondria, an enzyme that allows the release of energy from food calories directly as heat. Why is this important? Unlike white fat, which has no mitochondria and can only store energy, brown fat burns energy. The New England Journal of Medicine confirmed that brown fat is common in adults. It is important to the metabolism. Youthful thinner adults have more detectable brown fat than those who are older or fatter.
The fat you have come to hate; the yucky, bouncy and cottage cheese like stuff, has become a frontier for science. It is as important to your body as any other major organ. To quote Aaron Cypess,”Fat has undergone a renaissance.” White fat is key to the immune system. Fat droplets help protect the body against immune-system invaders. Subcutaneous fat lowers the risk of diabetes.
Yes, we do have more white fat than we need. 34% of American adults over the age of 20 are obese. Their fat is visceral, surrounding the vital organs and increases the risk of diabetes, strokes and certain types of cancer. Could brown fat (concentrated in the neck and chest) provide some hope to these morbidly obese? Scientists have begun to study how developing brown fat may be a TREATMENT for related obesity ailments.

The quest for the white to brown fat switch is being studied. I have more homework to do before I can give you part two! Stay tuned….