‘Good Fat’ Activated by Cold, Not Ephedrine

[Cowboyjim]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604155556.htm

‘Good Fat’ Activated by Cold, Not Ephedrine
Brown fat is found in humans naturally and consumes calories to generate heat. Prior studies had shown that brown fat can be activated by cold exposure in a process called non-shivering thermogenesis.
Researchers have been working for years to find ways to activate brown fat.
Ephedrine, a decongestant and bronchodilator, has been used as a weight loss drug because it increases the number of calories burned. However, there are side effects

 

[Patch]

Nice find, Jim.

The interesting part was at the end, when they said:

One method may be simply to design cooling vests that people can wear to help them lose weight. A future study will have subjects wear the vests for several weeks to see what happens, Dr. Cypess said.

"Will they get the same health benefits they would have seen with several weeks of exercise? That's the billion dollar question."

Interesting that the vest will cool a person, but that exercise warms you up. But BOTH supposedly casue weight loss?

 

[borofergie]

It is interesting, a guy called Jack Kruse has been promoting "cold-thermogenesis" for fat loss, which involves taking ice-baths daily to activate "brown-fat" and upping your metabolic rate:
http://jackkruse.com/cold-thermogenesis-13-the-faqs/
(I wouldn't recommend reading it, his prose is almost unintelligible this is a better description: http://www.bulletproofexec.com/cold-the ... made-real/ ).

I sometimes sit in a 15 degree bath for 20 minutes after a long run (which is what he proposes). It definitely helps my legs to recover, and has a profound impact on my metabolism. Even though I'm a naturally warm person (shirt sleeves in winter) after 20 minutes in the ice bath I cannot get warm again for the rest of the day.

Stephen