By A key discovery that could win the war against obesity
When it comes to our health, consistently making the wrong decisions could lead us into the world of disease.
Nutrition and lifestyle play a significant part in leading a healthy life. Without those key fundamentals, it brings us closer to obesity and endless health problems.
As a nation, we must somehow eliminate obesity. Researchers and scientists are working on finding a master strategy to help those in dire need.
When it comes to body fat, we have three different kinds.
These fats have different functions in our bodies.
Beige: This combination of white and brown fat helps us burn fat rather than store it.
When you are stressed, cold or exercise, certain enzymes and hormones are released to help convert white fat into the beige variety.
This fat will help prevent obesity and stabilise your body fat levels.
White: This fat is stored under the skin and around your organs, like the stomach, thighs, legs and arms.
White fat is the peak storage unit for energy use at a later stage (which isn’t beneficial these days).
Some white cells are required for better health and hormone regulation (insulin, growth hormone, leptin, estrogen etc.), but too much of it harms our health. You can assess your level of fat white cells with a body fat percentage assessment.
Higher body fat percentages put you at risk of the following diseases:
- Kidney Disease
- Type two diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Cancer
- Liver disease
You won’t have to worry too much about white fat if you are a healthy body fat percentage.
Brown fat
Brown Fat: Brown fat is interesting because it’s the fat that keeps us warm. It does this by helping us to break down blood sugar and fat molecules to create heat and help maintain your body temperature.
Cold temperatures are the key factor for activating brown fat, leading to many metabolic changes in the body. It’s just unfortunate that most of our body fat is white.
However, we aren’t cold or shivering as much these days, meaning brown fat is barely needed anymore.
At the same time, we’re also eating more and moving less, which is a nuisance for activating brown fat cells.
Gradually, as this occurs, the functionality eventually dies — yet obesity is increasing.
What substance stimulates brown fat
Researchers want to find a substance that helps to stimulate brown fat, which increases fat burning.
A key molecule that can help burn body fat is called inosine.
By studying fat cells put under severe stress for them to die, the researcher’s found that that process helped to secrete inosine in very large doses.
It also began to attract white cells, which then converted to brown fat!
However, when this was applied to mice on a high-energy diet and treated with inosine, they remained leaner than control animals and were protected from diabetes.
Just think of a molecule that can begin to convert white fat cells into brown fat — that’s remarkable!
An Inosine transporter plays a very important role in this process.
Humans have one, but only two to four per cent of all people. So it isn’t that active due to genetics.
People with this transporter tend to be leaner on average (that’s a key sign).
Since inosine regulates thermogenesis in human brown fat cells, it may be a suitable alternative to treat obesity.
Because this drug was approved for coagulation disorders, it may help provide a good starting point. However, more studies are required to clarify this drug’s potential.
Keep this in mind
One warning, though — it will take more than a drug to help people with obesity.
Intervention in diet, exercise and overall lifestyle is essential too.
A drug certainly isn’t a quick fix but something that can help regulate the process.
Obesity can be a combination of both psychological and nutritional senses.
If scientists can find a way to make this work, it will be a step in the right direction, that’s for sure!
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