Brown fat, what is that and can I activate it?
Brown fat, also called brown adipose tissue, is a special type of body fat that regulates your body temperature in cold conditions. But brown fat is mainly interesting because it helps burn calories and store energy and is mainly activated in cold temperatures.
How does brown fat work in the body?
Brown fat is responsible for producing heat to warm the blood in your body. This special form of fat starts to activate just before you start shivering and produces heat by breaking down blood sugar (glucose) and fat molecules. This process, called thermogenesis, creates heat to keep your body temperature normal.
How does brown fat help my body?
– Maintains your body temperature.
– Produces and stores energy.
– Burns calories.
– Helps regulate blood sugar and insulin levels.
Brown adipose tissue is therefore the healthy fat that you want to have in your body, as opposed to white fat that you want to burn
Activate brown fat with 10 tips!
Now that we know that this brown fat is healthy, we would of course like to know how brown fat can be activated
- Turn down the heating
You can activate more brown fat by exposing yourself to cool or cold temperatures. Just 2 hours a day at around 19 degrees Celsius can help. You can lower the thermostat in your home, which will also save on your monthly gas bill. - Supplements that can convert unhealthy white fat. There are numerous scientific studies showing that certain supplements can help convert white into healthy fat. Due to European legislation, we are not allowed to provide information about this online. We can, however, provide you with advice in a personal chat, via the blue button at the bottom right.
- Go outside when it's cold! Brown fat is activated to generate heat and maintain your body temperature in response to cold. If you go outside when it's cold, your body has to work harder to stay warm, which can result in the activation of brown adipose tissue. This can contribute to a healthier metabolism and weight management. However, it is important to dress properly and protect yourself from extreme cold to avoid hypothermia.
- Maintain your weight, this can help with a healthy fat balance. Research shows that if you are slim and therefore have less fat, the balance is much better between healthy and unhealthy fat.
- Cold showers can activate brown fat. You can do the best cold shower build up slowly so that you get used to this. How long should you take a cold shower to activate brown fat? Start with 20 seconds, the next day 30 seconds and slowly build up to 2 to 3 minutes.
- Swimming in cold waterPlease note if you have no experience with this. Hypothermia and muscle cramps can be life-threatening
- Take one ice bathThere are also risks associated with this. Always do this under the guidance of a professional.
- Exercise is of course always good for the body and mind, but it can also help activate brown fat. there are studies that show that exercise can help with activation and increase. Brown fat is involved in generating heat and burning calories, and exercise can positively impact the amount and activity of healthy fat in your body.
- Healthy fats food can help with production. Think of oily fish (omega 3 fats), nuts, seeds, olive oil and avocados
- Some medications can also convert white fat into brown and healthy fat. But this one medications are only suitable for people with diabetes and have quite a few side effects. They are not a quick quick fix and especially not a healthy solution for healthy people.
Why are brown fat cells brown?
Brown fat cells are brown because they are full of little energy factories called mitochondria. These contain a lot of iron, which gives the fat its brown color in contrast to the unhealthy white fat.
Where can you find brown fat in the body?
- In newborn babies it is mainly found in the back, neck and shoulders.
- In children it spreads throughout the body.
- Adults only have a little left around the neck, kidneys, adrenal glands, heart and chest.
How many brown fat cells do I have?
Everyone has a different composition and therefore also a different amount of fat in the body. Almost all people generally always have more white fat than brown.
In newborn babies, brown fat makes up about 2% to 5% of their body weight. As children get older, this decreases. The average person has about 110 grams of brown fat in the body. Slim people, trained people or athletes often have relatively more healthy brown fat than people who have more body weight.
Learn more or consult science yourself
Do you want to know more? We are happy to give you personal advice. If you prefer to do your own research, read the scientific articles about activating brown fat on sites such as PubMed