A new small study has found that keeping indoor
temperatures lower increases adults’ levels of healthy brown fat. Brown fat is a specialized type of fat that
is very metabolically active and helps to generate body heat. Brown fat is plentiful in babies but adults
have very small amounts. Prior research
has found that persons with greater levels of brown fat are less prone to
developing obesity and diabetes. This
small study is one of the first to show that adults are capable of growing
additional brown fat and that cooler indoor temperatures stimulate its growth
while warmer temperatures cause the loss of this beneficial type of fat.
In this study, 5 healthy
men lived in a temperature-controlled environment. During the day they lived their normal lives
but at the end of the day they returned for at least 10 hours to the climate
controlled environment. Temperatures
were kept at 75°F during the first month, 66°F during the second month, and
then back to 75°F during the third month, and finally up to 80.5°F during the
fourth month. Researchers assessed brown fat levels using CT scans, as well as
muscle and fat tissue biopsies. They
found that brown fat levels rose by 30-40% during the cool second month, returned to original levels in the
third month, and then fell below original levels in the warmer fourth month.
Another important
result was that participants’ insulin sensitivity (the amount of insulin the pancreas
needs to produce to bring blood sugar levels down after a meal) improved as amounts
of brown fat increased. This is a key
result because as the body’s cells become insensitive to insulin, diabetes
develops.
What
to do: Research in
the US indicates that over the last couple decades, target indoor temperatures
have risen approximately 6°F. While this
was only a small study, consider keeping indoor spaces cooler. So, to give your
metabolism a little boost, turn down the heat and turn up the air conditioner!
Articles adapted from:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140622142228.htm
Source:
Lee P,Smith S, Linderman J, Courville
AB, Brychta RJ, Dieckmann W, Werner CD, Chen KY, Celi FS. Temperature-acclimated
brown adipose tissue modulates insulin sensitivity in humans. Diabetes, June 22, 2014
DOI: 10.2337/db14-0513
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