Health and Fitness

Why More Brown Fat Is Better and How to Get It Via Lifestyle Choices

A practical guide to reducing white fat and increasing brown fat naturally based on experience and research

You might think that fat is just fat. But it turns out that our bodies have different types of fat cells. They have different roles and functions. We might think of them as different colors of the rainbow, each with its own unique properties and effects.

Brown fat cells are like little furnaces that burn calories to generate heat. They have more mitochondria than white fat cells. Mitochondria produce energy from our food and determine how fast or slow our metabolism is.

Brown fat cells are great communicators. They talk to other body parts, like the brain, heart, immune system, and hormones. They regulate our appetite, blood sugar, inflammation, and mood.

Brown fat cells are mostly found around our neck and heart, keeping us warm and cozy. They can get especially active when we are exposed to cold temperatures when we exercise, eat certain foods, or fast.

Brown fat is essential for babies and animals that live in cold environments. Babies don’t shiver in cold showers, thanks to brown fat. Brown fat is like a natural heater that keeps us cozy and fit.

White fat cells are like storage units that store excess energy as fat. They have fewer mitochondria than brown fat cells. Thus they are less active and responsive. White fat cells are also poor communicators. They don’t talk to other parts of our bodies very well. If they do, they often send the wrong signals.

White fat cells are mostly found around our bellies and organs, where they might cause trouble and harm in excessive amounts. Too many white fat cells might be especially problematic when we overeat junk foods, are stressed, or get older.

More precisely, accumulating too many white fat cells can lead to obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, chronic inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, and other cardiometabolic disorders.

So, how can we ensure that we have more brown fat than white fat in our bodies? How can we boost our brown fat game and become superheroes of metabolism? Well, that’s the purpose of this short story.

I’ve studied this topic (white fat cells vs. brown ones) for over two decades and learned much from research and real-life examples with sensible experiments.

I’ve seen people who naturally gained more brown fat than others. I’ve observed how they live and what they did differently and emulated their behaviors, lifestyle approaches, and best practices.

Thus, I’ve sensibly experimented with different ways to activate and increase brown fat in myself and others. And I’ve discovered three simple tricks that we can use to boost our brown fat levels and improve our health and well-being that I unfold in this article.

These tricks are doable, and they are backed by emerging scientific evidence. Doing these three things regularly can stimulate our brown fat cells to burn more calories, produce more heat, communicate better with body parts, and prevent or reverse metabolic disorders.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it’s not. It’s scientific, and it’s fun.

So how can we get more brown fat?

That’s the million-dollar question that scientists are trying to answer. Unfortunately, there is no easy or definitive answer yet. But some clues and hints from various studies suggest possible ways to boost our brown fat.

I will briefly explain my research findings, observations, and personal experiences in simple language without going into scientific and technical details to make this a practical piece with takeaways.

If you want to access the papers I reviewed, you may check my previous article, including them. I also provide links to a few prominent scientific papers at the end. There are thousands of papers in the literature about white versus brown fat.

1 — Thermoregulation and Thermogenesis

I start with thermoregulation and thermogenesis as it really worked for me for activating and increasing brown fat levels.

Thermogenesis is the process of generating heat in our bodies by burning calories. Thermoregulation is the body’s process of maintaining a stable internal temperature in response to changes in the surrounding environment.

Cold temperatures can trigger thermogenesis and thermoregulation. When we expose ourselves to cold, our bodies produce norepinephrine, activating our brown fat cells. It’s like our body’s way of saying, “Time to bundle up!”

So, how can we use cold exposure to boost our brown fat game and become a superhero of metabolism? Well, let me briefly describe what I did and learned from it.

Years ago, I had substantial visceral fat, which bothered me, and I wanted to lower it. I approached a functional medicine doctor specializing in fat metabolism, mobilization, and burning.

He recommended several things. But one of his simple and practical suggestions was to apply an ice bag to my belly for 20 minutes daily.

I did this for six months. My waistline shrank by five inches. My body fat percentage dropped by around 3%, according to a DEXA scan. I also felt more energetic and happier.

Unfortunately, the DEXA scan couldn’t tell me how much brown fat I had. I had to try an MRI scan, which was more accurate but also more expensive and not covered by Medicare.

But I didn’t need a scan to tell me that I had more brown fat. I could feel it in my body. I didn’t feel the cold as much as before. Cold exposure seemed to create more brown fat and make me more resistant to cold.

I no longer use ice bags because I have no noticeable belly fat left. But I still take cold showers daily for various reasons. I also try ice baths occasionally.

They increase my thermogenesis, give me more energy, lower inflammation, increase recovery, boost my immune system, and improve my mood.

I’m not the only one who does cold showers and ice baths. For example, millions of people follow the Wim Hof method, which involves cold exposure and special breathing techniques.

Wim Hof is an inspiring leader in the field with many world records for his feats in extremely cold environments like snowy mountains walking almost naked on ice and snow. He broke several Guinness Book records.

Wim has also contributed to science by making his biological data available for research. Scientists have found that he can control his immune system, metabolism, and nervous systems with his mind and unique breathing methods.

You can learn more about him and his method on his website or watch his inspiring and unusual TED talk. He inspires me and many others who want to improve their physical and mental health with cold exposure.

Some studies have shown that people who live in colder climates or sleep in cooler rooms have more brown fat than those who live in warmer places or sleep in warmer rooms

So maybe turning down the thermostat or taking a cold shower can help us get more brown fat. But don’t go too extreme without preparation and adaption because hypothermia is not fun, either.

So here are four practical tips that we can use to boost our brown fat levels with cold exposure: cold showers, ice baths, applying an ice pack to the belly for a short while, like 15 minutes, and exposing ourselves to cold temperatures outdoors or indoors by wearing less clothing.

Doing these things regularly might produce more heat, stimulate our brown fat cells, burn more calories, and contribute to preventing or reversing metabolic disorders.

Sounds cool, right? Well, it is, literally and figuratively.

2 — Intense Workouts

Intense workouts in the form of resistance and high-intensity training can activate and increase our brown fat levels:

Resistance training is a type of exercise that involves working our muscles against a force, like weights, bands, or our own body weight (calisthenics). Resistance training can help us build muscle mass, strength, and endurance.

High-intensity training is a type of exercise that involves short bursts of intense activity followed by brief periods of rest or recovery.

High-intensity training can help us burn more calories, improve cardiovascular fitness, and enhance physical performance. These points are well documented in the fitness and sports literature.

When we do resistance and high-intensity training, our bodies create a lot of heat. This heat stimulates our brown fat cells to burn more calories and produce more heat, keeping us warm and cozy.

Resistance and high-intensity training also increase the production of certain hormones and factors that can activate brown fat cells or even turn some of our white fat cells into brown fat cells. This is like giving the body a makeover from the inside out.

So, how do I know that resistance and high-intensity training work for me? Well, let me tell you what I did and what I learned from it.

Years ago, I was doing a lot of cardio exercises like long-distance running. But I still had some belly fat that wouldn’t go away due to the elevated cortisol levels. I also felt cold easily when exposed to cold temperatures.

Then I switched to resistance training coupled with high-intensity training. My belly fat shrank, my body fat percentage dropped, and my muscle mass increased. I also felt more energetic and happier.

I also noticed that I didn’t feel cold as much as before. Cold exposure didn’t bother me anymore. In fact, I started taking cold showers and ice baths much more easily.

I realized that resistance and high-intensity training had increased my brown fat levels and made me more tolerant of cold.

And I’m not alone in this. Many athletes performing resistance and high-intensity training have less fat in their belly, hips, and thighs. They also have more brown fat than overweight people.

3 — Certain Nutrients and Time-Restricted Eating

Preliminary studies indicate that certain nutrients can influence brown fat activity or production. These nutrients include capsaicin, resveratrol, curcumin, green tea, menthol, and omega-3 fatty acids.

These compounds are found in spicy peppers, red wine, turmeric, tea, mint, and fish respectively. They have been shown to promote brown fat activation or browning of white fat in animal models or cell lines.

However, these findings need to be confirmed in humans by more clinical trials. So don’t binge on these foods just yet, because they may not work the same for us as they do for mice or cells.

Another way is ingesting specific types of amino acids like BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids). They are the building blocks of proteins. Some studies have shown that BCAA levels are related to brown fat activity and metabolic health.

For example, one study found that people with more active brown fat had lower BCAA levels than those with less active brown fat. This suggests that brown fat can use BCAA as fuel and lower their levels in the blood.

However, this effect may depend on factors such as thyroid function and genetics. So we shouldn’t mess with our amino acid levels without consulting with qualified healthcare professionals with access to our medical history.

Another way of increasing brown fat, from my experience and literature reviews, is time-restricted eating, which means eating only within a specific time window. I also practice extended fasting, which gives me many benefits.

I believe that a customized diet rich in fat-mobilizing nutrients coupled with time-restricted eating might increase brown fat and reduce white fat.

However, these hypotheses still need more research and evidence to support them. I hope we can get more empirical studies on nutritional contributions to brown fat activation and increase in the near future.

Summary and Takeaways

Increasing brown fat can solve metabolic disorders because brown fat can use up the glucose and fatty acids from the blood and turn them into heat.

This can lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels and improve insulin sensitivity. This is why scientists are interested in increasing or activating our brown fat.

Measuring our fat profile can be ideal, but not easy or cheap. There are some methods like MRI scans to test how much and how active our brown fat is.

We need both white and brown fat for various functions, such as protecting our organs, regulating our body temperature, and producing hormones.

Too much or too little fat can be harmful to our health. Too much white fat can cause inflammation and disease. Too little fat can cause hormonal imbalance and malnutrition.

A viable way is to gain more brown fat than white fat. Therefore it will be a good approach to lower white fat tissues and increase brown or beige ones, which I will cover in another story.

There are around 19,000 medical reports about brown fat on PubMed, but if you are new to the field and want to research the topic, you might start with the following prominent papers.

Prominent Scientific References on Brown Fat

Exercise-induced ‘browning’ of adipose tissues — Metabolism

Food Ingredients Involved in White-to-Brown Adipose Tissue Conversion and in Calorie Burning — Frontiers

Brown adipose tissues mediate the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids during the transitioning from hyperthyroidism to euthyroidism — Nature

Fasting induces a subcutaneous-to-visceral fat switch mediated by microRNA-149–3p and suppression of PRDM16 — Nature

Thermogenesis and Thermoregulation — ScienceDirect

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

You may find more optimistic and empowering stories like these on EUPHORIA, where I share my insights and life lessons. My focus is on cellular, mitochondrial, metabolic, and mental health + JOY. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.

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