Ever heard of using fat to loose weight? I read an article that talked about this very thing as a way to fight obesity. It’s about a new discovery scientists are finding that by re-programming body fat you can loose weight.

Obesity is a growing dilemma and anything that can help eliminate the problem is of tremendous importance. So, if using a fat to fight fat kind of diet works, lets go for it!

Already in three different countries, scientists have tested this theory in laboratories using mice. They have all said that the results have been amazing!

What are we looking at here, a miracle cure for obesity? Well, not exactly. They still advocate exercise because exercise ” exercise is essential for good health. It improves circulation and therefore strengthens our heart and lung function. And, at the same time exercise enables our bodies to release several hormones that give us a sense of wellbeing.”

Ok, I can agree with that. However obesity levels are growing every year, and so have levels of physical activity. Exercise doesn’t seem to be working on it’s own to reduce weight. It just doesn’t seem to be the most effective way of burning calories.

So, the scientists are experimenting using fat to eliminate fat. It’s only lately that they have changed their thoughts of fat being just a tissue to store energy in the body until we need it. Years ago our bodies stored this excess energy in fat cells so when food was scarce the human body could draw from the fat cells to produce energy. (I look at it like a cactus in the dessert storing water in the rainy season to use during the dry times) With all the food available to us today, we sure don’t need this storage now. So, we just build up the fat layer after layer.

While belly fat can be harmful, subcutaneous, or peripheral fat, found beneath the skin of the hips and thighs works to protect us. “If we can reprogramme the fat so that it produces less bad effects, it could get rid of some of the metabolic consequences of obesity,” says Prof Ronald Kahn, head of obesity research at Harvard Medical School’s Joslin Diabetes Centre.

Prof Kahn has found it is possible to transplant peripheral fat into the abdominal area, and so reduce the risk of developing obesity-related diseases in rats. It may be possible to “re-program” belly fat so that it behaves more like subcutaneous fat. And even though people would still be fat, they would at least be healthier.

However, an even better discovery, in my thinking, is that humans have deposits of brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, and unlike white fat, brown fat burns energy rather than stores it. And it burns a lot of energy.
While adults have very little brown fat, we do have tiny deposits around our necks. “As little as two ounces of brown fat can burn up 400 to 500 calories a day,” says Prof Kahn, who is among the scientists leading research into brown fat. “It’s very hard to burn off that much with exercise. A little bit more active brown fat can be very beneficial for helping to keep weight down.”
Scientists now believe that activating brown fat stores in obese patients – and even increasing their levels of brown fat – could help them to keep their weight down.

Prof Kahn has also discovered that a growth factor called BMP-7 can be used to turn stem cells into brown fat. When this was transplanted into mice, the tissue formed discrete islands of brown fat. The team now plans to use the approach on fat from humans.

“If we treat fat that has been removed by liposuction to convert it into brown fat, we could then put it back into patients,” says Prof Kahn. “If you combined this with improved diet and exercise, the effect could be dramatic.”

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