Brown fat or brown adipose tissue(BAT) is a type of fat found in the body that helps regulate the body temperature when you are exposed to cold conditions. It gets activated right before your body starts to shiver.
It also leads to several metabolic changes in the body as brown fat burns calories for energy instead of carbs. However, in this article, we will explore how brown adipose tissue improves metabolism.
Understanding Brown Fat
Brown fat, which acts as a protector from cold, is found less than white fat in your body. It has a unique cell composition and is abundant in mitochondria. Generally, brown adipose tissue is found in infants and children and it nearly vanishes when a child grows to become an adult. there are also contains of brown fat tissue supplements available today
It helps in thermogenesis by burning calories right before you are about to shiver so that the heat produced may regulate your body temperature. In addition to that, brown fat adipose also helps in maintaining fat metabolism and regulating the level of sugar in your body.
Thermogenesis In Brown Fat
Thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue takes place for two different purposes, such as for thermal balance and energy balance. That is, it maintains body temperature in the cold and also spends food energy. But, when brown fat is deficient in an individual, the outcome is, usually, associated with obesity.
Role Of Brown Fat In Basal Metabolic Rate
Brown Fat burns calories and produces energy and the energy is again burned to produce the right amount of heat. This heat production not only regulates the body temperature but also increases the metabolic rate.
Brown fat plays a crucial role in regulating energy and glucose homeostasis throughout the body. It also has a major role in lipid metabolism as the energy stored in the adipose tissue is found in the form of lipids which is responsible for its metabolism.
BAT sensitivity is often associated with thyroid hormone as it maintains the tissue’s sensitivity to an extent that no other hormone does, In fact, the thyroid also functions to stimulate the activation of the tissue through mitochondrial biogenesis.
Factors Influencing Brown Fat Activity
To begin with, the activation of brown fat is the result of your body’s exposure to cold temperatures. This urges the production of heat in your body, which also ends up boosting metabolism.
These temperature rises can be categorized as environmental triggers, but there are also psychological triggers that cause brown fat activity such as the perception of cold. In such cases, cold-induced thermogenesis takes place.
One of the other factors influencing brown fat activity is exercise, However, what kind of exercise can induce and bring the desired effect on BAT is yet to be determined. also, it is yet to understand if exercise plays any role in BAT metabolism.
Therapeutic Implications
Metabolic syndrome is a class of conditions that together increases your risk of stroke, diabetes, and other serious health issues. However, there are potential strategies to improve BAT activity, but an exact solution is yet to be discovered.
BAT-targeted drugs are being developed by various research teams, but they have not so far come up with a proper medical discovery.
Conclusion
Brown fat is necessary for children as it is their cope-up mechanism to fight against cold temperatures, in adults, mostly metabolic disorders are reported due to lack of adipose tissue. On top of this, obesity is another trouble caused by the deficiency of BAT.
However, scientists are still looking for the preparation of injectable BAT doses, which would help mitigate the aforementioned problems caused by BAT deficiency.
