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We've all been wishing for a magical solution that would help us look great with minimal effort--no diet or exercise required. Well, according to new research, there might be a simple solution to help you shed a few inches in no time at all.
The newest research from the Center for Integrative Metabolic and Endocrine Research at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan suggests that temperature might have a significant effect on your fat cells.
"When you eat more calories than you burn, your body stores the leftovers as white or brown fat," explains James Granneman, Ph.D., a scientist at Wayne State University who co-authored the new research. "White fat can accumulate in your tissues, cause inflammation, and mess with your health, while brown fat creates energy more efficiently, generates heat, and excretes a mix of hormones that further promote energy metabolism. Because of this, it's in your best interest to have more brown fat than white fat."
To figure out this ratio, Granneman and his colleagues assessed the body fat of mice before and after exposing them to 40-degrees Fahrenheit temperatures for one week straight--in other words, the temperature inside a refrigerator.
"The cold temperatures favored brown fat and made white fat act a little more like brown fat," Granneman explained. "The likely culprit is adrenaline, the same hormone and neurotransmitter that your body spews out when you're scared."
"Even if you could handle a week in near-freezing temperatures, which you'd need to do to give your brown fat a leg up, it probably wouldn't boost your calorie burn enough to significantly affect your weight (or your health)," says Granneman, who co-authored human research on the topic.
The bottom line is that not all fat are created equal, and not all fats are bad. Scientists are still researching how to tap into the benefits of brown fat, so we aren't that far off!
What do you think about this latest study? Let us know in the comments!
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