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RE: Turning White Fat to Beige Fat - New Disconfirming Evidence on IL-4 Contribution [Research]
I think that brown fat does not "naturally" degenerate due to programmed atrophy as we get older. I think the atrophy is due to disuse because we have developed the ability to thermoregulate externally with clothes and climate control rather than internally. The brown fat disappears because it is essentially never used, just like skeletal muscle atrophies if not used. This would explain the reported ability of native peoples to be comfortable while wearing much less clothing than western people in past history -- their brown fat was still healthy and functional.
Trouble is -- being uncomfortably cold would be the only way to keep this fat functional.
I tend to agree - with the use it or lose it. Not to fall into the other extreme and bash the amazing aspects of modern life, but it might be useful and healthy every once in a while to engage in cold exposure - the uncomfortable one :)
I'd be interested to see more research in humans with respect to our ability to produce beige and BAT - as adults. thanks for engaging!
They say that Michael Phelps the swimmer ate 12,000 calories a day while training -- that's 4 times the normal calorie intake.
Now -- certainly he was burning a lot of energy to swim. But -- he was also spending hours each day in pool water of around 80 degrees (olympic racing mandates pool temps of 77 - 82 degrees.)
I bet his brown fat was healthy and functional!