brown fat actually burns other types of body fat<\/a>. <\/p>\n![\"Researchers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cancer-lab-getty-v3.jpg\")
Researchers have found that higher levels of brown fat are linked to lower levels of disorders, including depression and anxiety<\/p>\n
This process, where brown fat begins to burn white fat, can be activated by exposure to cold, physical exercise and certain hormones. <\/p>\n
While long known to keep newborns warm before they can shiver, brown fat was previously thought to vanish after infancy until late in 2009, when a landmark study proved adults retain it.<\/p>\n
The findings, published in the journal Nature, have been described as \u201cone of the most comprehensive and, probably, significant works in the field,” according to Dr Shingo Kajimura, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School.<\/p>\n
![\"Brown](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2253176431...jpeg\")
Brown fat was previously believed to vanish after infancy (Getty)<\/p>\n
During the study, researchers found that people with active brown fat had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, while also uncovering an unexpected \u201cprotective effect\u201d against depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n
Together, the work concluded that the more active brown fat people have, the greater the protection they have from a range of disorders and diseases.<\/p>\n
The mechanisms through which brown fat may prevent psychiatric conditions remain under investigation. \u201cA potential explanation is that, because people with brown fat have a healthier metabolic profile, they will have less psychiatric issues,\u201d said co-author Dr Nicol\u00e1s G\u00f3mez-Banoy, a physician-scientist at The Rockefeller University.<\/p>\n
Because the study was retrospective, experts note that further studies will be required to prove a direct causation. \u201cMore work is needed to prove that brown fat is indeed causing all these benefits,\u201d said Dr Irfan Lodhi, a molecular biologist at Washington University in St. Louis. \u201cBut it\u2019s still a very interesting and surprising study.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01M4Z36JP3R88EFW7D93N90Z41.jpg\")
Scientists believe the link may be to do with an individual\u2019s metabolic profile (PA)<\/p>\n
Finding practical ways to boost brown fat activity remains a challenge, as cold exposure is not always practical, and current activating drugs carry side effects. <\/p>\n
But by analysing participant prescriptions, the authors have found that a common blood pressure drug \u2013 losartan \u2013 boosts brown fat activity in cell and animal models, opening the door to future research. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe dream is that we can use these kinds of data as a platform for not only learning new biology, but maybe repurposing already-approved drugs to activate brown fat in humans and leverage the benefits that come from that,\u201d Dr Cohen said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[67809,293,2481,337,65252,97,308,23665,9746,688,3076,51869,371503,371504],"class_list":["post-885288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-abundance","tag-color-image","tag-el-salvador","tag-fitness","tag-gang","tag-health","tag-horizontal","tag-image","tag-law","tag-photography","tag-prison","tag-prisoner","tag-tecoluca","tag-terrorism-confinement-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Independent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792223538_372_Independent+Membership+White.png\")
<\/p>\n