Exposure to Cold Weather Can Actually Help You Burn Your Unwanted Fat

It’s this time of the year again.. When the temperature drops to 0 Degrees, all you want to do is to sit by the fire place while drinking your favourite hot chocolate. Holidays just passed by and I know for some of you, it’s essential to get your bikini ready body right in time for summer. Who wouldn’t want that? You may feel a little frustrated because you can’t go out to do your exercise routine. But don’t feel bad, a recent study will surely make you happy.
UC San Francisco researchers found out that fat burning triggered by cold weather may suggest new weight loss strategy. They identified the immune system molecules that can promote fat conversion.

"The new discovery is surprising, Chawla said, because it makes it clear that this control mechanism for fat burning bypasses components of the autonomic nervous system that govern many physiological adaptations. “Nutrient and energy metabolism has largely been thought to be under the control of the brain and endocrine system,” he said.

In comparison to the nervous system, the immune pathway might be more easily manipulated to increase energy expenditure, Chawla said. In fact, another study published simultaneously in Cell by researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School reports the identification of a hormone, produced in fat tissue after cold exposure, that activates interleukin 4 and interleukin 13 to drive fat burning.

Fat cells shown under a microscope. Image by Shingo Kajimura/UCSF
Humans and other mammals shiver to keep warm, but cold also triggers the growth of fat cells that burn fuel, instead of the fat cells that store it. Keep humans indoors at 61 degrees to 63 degrees Fahrenheit without allowing them to bundle up, and they lose weight, research shows. That’s because they adapt by generating more fat-burning cells to help them keep warm.

In contrast to the power-converting mechanisms in white fat cells, the gears in the power plants within fat-burning fat cells spin inefficiently. This causes them to burn more energy and generate heat. The trigger for this accelerated fat burning is the activation within the cell’s power plants – called mitochondria – of a protein called uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). Cells with UCP1 are capable of heat generation and fat burning, and are known as brown fat or beige fat, depending on the tissue from which they originate. They have more mitochondria than white cells and therefore have a darker tinge."

Know more about their research on their website.

Not only that, cold temperatures may also prompt unhealthy white fat in the thighs and belly to turn into brown fat that burns calories for body heat. If this will be proven effective, it will be easier for you to lose your thigh fat and build your bikini bridge.
What do you think? Share your thoughts.