This article explores the claims surrounding brown fat and its potential for weight loss, comparing it to the effectiveness of building muscle mass. It delves into the science behind calorie expenditure, highlighting the significant role of muscle activity in burning calories.
While some organs, like the brain, work continuously, other body tissues, like muscle and fat, can enter an inactive state. Muscles are typically inactive except during exercise, and a special type of fat — called brown fat — activates only in the cold to help warm us up. When on standby, these two tissues burn very few calories and thus have a negligible impact on weight loss.
But there's a notion that, if you build your muscles through exercise, those bigger muscles will burn more calories throughout the day. It follows that a person with a higher muscle-to-fat ratio would burn many more calories while at rest than someone with a lower ratio.Calories are units of energy from food that power every bodily process, and the body stores an excess of them as fat. Most calories are broken down by continuously active organs, like the brain, heart, kidneys and liver, each of which and the same amount of fat burns 2 calories in a day. But because muscle is one of the most abundant tissues in the body, it can burn a substantial number of calories when put to work. For example, in a study, men who ran on a treadmill burned nearly 9.5 calories per minute — and that adds up quickly. By comparison, one pound of resting muscle burns only about 30 calories per day. 'If you're exercising your muscles, you're definitely burning more calories,' said Dr. Eric Merritt, a kinesiologist at Southwestern University in Texas. However, most people can't find the energy to do intense cardio several times a week, so he argued that 'If you just lift weights and then sit on the couch, those muscles aren't necessarily burning that many more calories,' said Dr. Stuart Phillips, a metabolism researcher at McMaster University in Canada. However, 'if you have more muscle, you will also be moving more weight around, and you'll burn more calories because you're doing more work.' Brown fat cells, like the one illustrated above, contain many mitochondria (purple) and scattered bubbles of fat (orange) inside them. Most of our fat is 'white fat,' which is not helpful for burning calories; it mostly stores calories, insulates organs and releases hormones. But humans also have 'brown fat,' which burns calories to regulate body temperature in the cold. This has led some to jump on the bandwagon of activating brown fat for weight loss. But when you compare how efficiently brown fat and muscle burn calories, the results aren't impressive: Brown fat burns only 2 calories per day when inactive, and it would burn about 100 calories during 90 minutes of cold exposure. The same number of calories can be burned with two minutes of muscle-activating exercise. People probably don't have enough brown fat to leverage it for weight loss, Steinberg added. Most studies of brown fat's response to cold are short-term and don't reflect long-term metabolic changes. Ice baths may burn extra calories by inducing shivering, rather than activating brown fat, Steinberg suggested. Rather than taking ice baths, some people exercise at cold temperatures, but Merritt cautioned the practice. 'If it gets too cold, you limit your blood flow to areas that might need it and it limits your ability to perform the exercise,' he said. Editor's note: In this article, the colloquial term 'calorie' refers to one kilocalorie (kcal), which is equivalent to 1,000 calories, in scientific terms
MUSCLE BROWN FAT WEIGHT LOSS CALORIE EXPENDITURE EXERCISE METABOLISM
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Sister Wives Christine Brown Claims Robyn Brown Orchestrated Meri Brown's DivorceChristine Brown alleges Robyn Brown planted the idea for Meri Brown's legal divorce from Kody Brown so she could legally adopt Robyn's children. Robyn denies the accusations.
Read more »
Christine Brown Claims Robyn Brown Orchestrated Meri Brown's DivorceOn the latest episode of Sister Wives, Christine Brown alleges that Robyn Brown hinted at the idea of Meri Brown divorcing Kody Brown to allow Robyn to legally adopt her children. Robyn denies the accusations, stating that she never suggested such a thing.
Read more »
Flat Stomach After 40: Nutrition is Key, Says Fitness ExpertFitness trainer Jill Brown emphasizes that losing belly fat after 40 requires prioritizing nutrition over intense exercise. She explains that age-related muscle loss and hormonal changes contribute to fat accumulation in the abdominal area. Brown recommends a calorie deficit diet rich in high-quality protein for effective belly fat reduction.
Read more »
Electrical Muscle Stimulation Boosts Muscle Growth and Strength When Combined with Resistance TrainingA new study reveals that adding neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to your resistance training routine can significantly increase muscle mass and strength compared to resistance training alone. Researchers analyzed numerous studies and found that combining NMES with exercises like bench presses or squats led to better results, especially when training durations were longer.
Read more »
Yes, college students gain holiday weight too -- but in the form of muscle not fatA new study from an obesity researcher reveals that college students and older adults gain holiday weight just in different ways.
Read more »
Christine Brown, Janelle Brown Talk Relationship With Meri, Robyn Brown'Sister Wives' stars Christine Brown and Janelle Brown talk about how life has changed since leaving plural marriage with Kody Brown
Read more »