Researchers partially funded by NHLBI developed an innovative, simple method to increase brown fat mass in the body, which could have a significant effect on metabolism and aid in weight loss.
Brown fat tissue can burn enormous amounts of energy to generate heat, and studies in humans and animals have suggested that increasing the amount of healthy brown fat might help weight management and reduce symptoms of diabetes.
However, how to safely increase brown fat tissue has eluded researchers, until now. In a study published by Scientific Reports, scientists report their success with a method to directly convert white fat to brown fat outside the body and then return it to the patient as a transplant.
The researchers are now refining their techniques and dosages and running further studies on the impact of their methods on metabolism and weight regulation.