Get to know brown fat in the human body & bull; hello healthy

Fat is a component of the human body that is scattered in various parts of the body. Fat is known to have a bad reputation because it is the main cause of various degenerative diseases. But did you know that not all the fat in our body causes bad effects? The body basically has several types of fat, and one of the "good" fat tissues that helps balance body fat levels is brown fat, also known as brown fat. brown fat.

What is that brown fat?

As the name implies, brown fat is one of the brownish fat tissue, in addition to white fat, subcutaneous fat, and visceral (belly) fat. Mammals in general have brown fat to survive by producing body heat, but in humans, mostly levels brown fat on the body only found at the time of the new birth. Proportion brown fat in human infants about 5%, and this number continues to decrease with age. Many consider the levels in adulthood brown fat There's nothing left, but research in the last 10 years has shown that adults still have some left brown fat although the numbers are very small.

What makes the difference brown fat with other fats

Unlike other fats that are brightly colored like white or yellow, brown fat has a brownish color because there are many mitochondria that have a high iron content. This causes brown fat serves to produce energy and burn calories, while other fat tissue serves as food reserves. Other than that,brown fat also has more blood vessels so it consumes more oxygen to carry out sympathetic functions to regulate other fat cells.

Brown fat often found in certain body parts such as the neck, shoulders, and around the lower spine, but not everyone has it. Brown fat also mixes with other fatty tissue making it easier to stimulate the fat around it. The stimulatory function of fat is to produce body heat brown fat do not have the same level of activity as other fat cells. Brown fat tends to be active to adjust body temperature when our bodies are in an environment with a lower temperature.

Function brown fat

Even though they were very few in number,brown fat has several important functions such as:

1. Keeps body warm - Content brown fat which is higher in babies serves as the main body heat producer, because the baby is not able to move freely or shiver to warm his body. Whereas in adults,brown fat functions as a temperature regulator of the innermost part of the body by helping the blood in the blood vessels to stay warm as they go to the heart and brain.
2. Increase fat metabolism - The main reason for the increase in fat levels is that the body stops metabolizing and begins to store food reserves. Activity brown fat helps increase the body's metabolism so that the body can burn more fat.
3. Improve blood glucose metabolism - One study from 2015 showed tissue transplantation brown fat in mice increases the amount of hormone and insulin function in mice, and reduces glucose levels in the blood. This shows potential brown fat in preventing and treating diabetes.

How to improve function brown fat?

Here are some simple ways you can help your activities brown fat to carry out its functions:

1. Increase the hormone melatonin

Not only helps in the balance of activity, the hormone melatonin also helps in increasing levels and function brown fat. One study in mice found that administering the hormone melatonin helped increase levels brown fat of the white fat in the rat's body. In humans, the hormone melatonin can be produced while resting in dark conditions. Reducing exposure to light sources such as lights and electronics at night will help your body rest better and produce more of the hormone melatonin.

2. Eating apples and their skins

Apple skin is rich in ursolic acid and can increase levels brown fat on the body. In addition, this compound also helps balance blood glucose and fat metabolism so that it functions to prevent diabetes. This compound is also present in several other food sources such as cranberry and blueberry plums, and mint leaves.

3. Exercising in a cold temperature environment

As discussed earlier, function brown fat which is only active in environments with low temperatures. Working in a cool environment will help you burn more fat. This can be done by exercising in the morning when the air is still cool. In addition, avoid exposure to temperatures that are too hot because it will reduce activity brown fat.

4. Don't let you feel too hungry

Apart from making you eat more, excess hunger can also lower your metabolism. This makes activity brown fat also inhibited to increase the body's metabolism. Eating enough food will be safer to help with activities brown fat regulate other fatty tissue.