Do you know our body fat is of which color?

Do you know our body fat is of which color?
15 to 20% of our weight is comprised of Adipose Tissue, better known as fat. Do you know our body fat aka adipose tissue is of what color? Do we have multiple fats with different colors? Yes. Body fat comes in different colors – White, Brown and Beige. They are responsible for different functions and storing different levels of lipids.

Brown Adipose Tissue / Brown Fat:

They are termed as Good Fat, are darker in color and derived from muscles. Its main function is to transfer energy from food to heat. It keeps body temperature stable by generating heat. It does not store calories rather burns them because of the heat produced and the resulting decrease in metabolic efficiency and increase in thermogenic capacity. Brown fat helps in weight loss and gives you toned body. Brown fat if activated, you can experience the weight loss even without exercise and dieting. So how and when it is activated? Many researchers have found out that it activates when we feel cold. So when you are suffering from flu and sleeping all the day and night under the blanket yet lose weight than thanks to brown fat. However the quantity of brown adipose tissue is very less in human body when compared with other mammals.

 

White Adipose Tissue / White Fat:

It is most commonly found in human body. It serves three functions – heat insulation, mechanical cushion and a source of energy. It has a single large membrane enclosed lipid droplet. It does not help in burning any calories as its metabolic rate is very low. It is the storage unit for extra calories and is found in the problem zones of overweight people.

 

Beige Adipose Tissue / Beige Fat:

In 2012, researchers had found out another fat and they termed it “beige fat” which is similar in nature as brown fat. Most interesting point is that they can form from the undesirable white fat cells. It is in between white and brown fat in terms of its calorie burning ability. Researchers are finding out the ways to shift white cells into more metabolically active beige fat by diet or exercise or supplements. Some foods like seaweed, licorice root and hot peppers can help in converting white cells to beige ones.

 
Is one fat color healthier than other fat color? Brown body fat is healthiest among all other colors.
 

Is Brown Fat the Key to Lasting Weight Loss?

Various pharmaceutical companies feel that it could be the magic bullet for weight loss. Dr. Francesco Celi told Time magazine that brown fat may allow a person to burn more calories with the same amount of consumption—without having to hit the gym or sweat through a workout. He emphasized that science has very few interventions that can increase energy expenditure, which is exactly the purpose of brown fat.

How can we increase Brown Fat?

Research and various studies are going on to find out ways to promote the growth of brown fat and beige fat to tackle the weight and obesity problems in human being. One of the researchers has found out that protein called PRDM-16 is present in every brown fat but not in white cells. Fat changes in muscle cells when the protein activity is turned off. Studies are on to identify the genes that may turn PRDM-16 on. Another researcher has found that protein BMP-7 increases the production of brown fat in mice. Studies are on to use the same protein in the human to test if boosts brown fat. If it works we would find the easiest way to lose fat.
Another point of view: However there is opposite point of view as well. Some researchers have argued saying that that amount of brown fat naturally declines when we age. So rather depending on it we should go with other natural fat burning ways – Exercise and Proper Diet.