Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT) - How to maximise reserves? page

[Omni]

I'd like to find out more about BAT and would value any inputs, I have read some of the postings and done other research, but there is only limited studies done on Humans, most of the research has been done on rodents.

From Marks DA, he saysAcute cold exposure activates BAT & Chronic exposure will stimulate additional production of BAT, can anyone clarify in laymans terms the definition of Acute & Chronic in this context?
I imagine Acute is just getting cold exposure & Chronic to be extended uncomfortable cold exposure, but read elswhere that when shivering begins that BAT activity subsides, do we need to shiver to build additional BAT reserves?

Cold exposure also recruits WAT to BAT, I also read somewhere that there is CAT (Convertable Adipose Tissue), which may well be the one that swings each way depending on the requirement for either increased energy storage or increased thermogenesis.

Meletonin also stimulates BAT production, so get the circadian rythem back to normal, wake with the sunrise if possible & only yellow (no blue wavelengths) light in the evening before bed and make sure your sleeping cave has no nasty electronic LED's disturbing the ambience.

Urosolic Acid also encourages BAT growth, a compound found in the waxy layer on apples and some herbs & vegetables, so from this study plenty of articles sprang up about eating apple peels to lose weight.
PLoS ONE: Ursolic Acid Increases Skeletal Muscle and Brown Fat and Decreases Diet-Induced Obesity, Glucose Intolerance and Fatty Liver Disease

Can't think of anything else at the moment, but would appreciate input.

[otzi]

I'd like to find out more about BAT and would value any inputs, I have read some of the postings and done other research, but there is only limited studies done on Humans, most of the research has been done on rodents.

It looks like you know about as much as anybody. There is virtually no anectodotal evidence since it's impossible to measure your BAT at home. The studies I've read seem to point to 50 degrees as the magic number for air or water in regards to stimulating/recruiting BAT. At this point in time, you just have to do it and hope it is working. I've seen so many positive benefits of cold air and cold water that even without BAT in the equation, it's worth it to me. If there were a way to quantify BAT activation and BAT growth, it would really get people interested in this.

[Omni]

Interesting, an enriched environment increases BAT, so maybe lots of fun is just as good as cold to stimulate BAT production.
White to brown fat phenotypic switch induced by genetic and environmental activation of a hypothalamic-adipocyte axis

White to brown fat phenotypic switch induced by genetic and environmental activation of a hypothalamic-adipocyte axis

SUMMARY.

Living in an enriched environment with complex physical and social stimulation leads to improved cognitive and metabolic health. In white fat, enrichment induced the upregulation of the brown fat cell fate determining gene Prdm16, brown fat specific markers, and genes involved in thermogenesis and β-adrenergic signaling. Moreover, pockets of cells with prototypical brown fat morphology and high UCP1 levels were observed in the white fat of enriched mice associated with resistance to diet-induced obesity. Hypothalamic overexpression of BDNF reproduced the enrichment-associated activation of the brown fat gene program and lean phenotype. Inhibition of BDNF signaling by genetic knockout or dominant negative trkB reversed this phenotype. Our genetic and pharmacologic data suggest a mechanism whereby induction of hypothalamic BDNF expression in response to environmental stimuli leads to selective sympathoneural modulation of white fat to induce “browning” and increased energy dissipation.

[magicmerl]

Can't think of anything else at the moment, but would appreciate input.

The only thing I have to add is that while I jumped on the cold thermogenesis megathread (which was the basis for Mark's post) I've stopped doing it since it was an additional stressor for my body, and I think that reducing stress is more important.

[Neckhammer]

I alternate cold shower and sauna 3x after my workouts. My BAT is like woe. BOooooya. Nah. This is an old habit for me. I been doing it ever since I saw a video on Dan Gable and the Iowa wrestlers from like the 80's or early 90's doing alternate hot/cold stuff the day before a mach.

I don't think it's anything to get your panties in a twist about. Don't sit with blocks of ice on my back for hours or anything. Its an interesting bit of knowledge, but I don't think you can count on it as a dependable hack or anything.

[skorpion317]

I just take a cold shower a couple times a week. Can't say if it definitely works, but it's refreshing.

[Omni]

I just started to re read some of this stuff and it seems to me that there is a healthy level of stress which induces our body to increase capacity and capability in a variety of areas.
The difference could be expressed as acute stress vs chronic stress, so interval and resistance training vs chronic cardio and marathon running, the former builds up the body while the later breaks down the body because of lack of recovery time.
That same idea can be applied to cold exposure, where acute short term exposure is healthy, but repeated longer term exposure through neccesity may not be healthy if there isn't enough warm up time and recovery in between.

The study I posted above with the mice and the "Enriched environment" inducing BAT production, suggests that a varied environment presents healthy daily challenges (stress) which favour healthy metabolic adjustments, part of the protocol was to change toys daily, so the mice would have new objects to explore and engage both their bodies and minds.

So yes a healthy diet and exercise regime will promote a certain level of health, but once the routine has been well established and becomes like clockwork, the suggestion is there may be a plateau or even slight reversal as there is no further physical or psychological challenge in the process.
One needs to step out of the routine and step into the unknown occassionally to keep the body and mind invigorated, it makes sense like all those other aspects discussed here, like muscle and fat metabolism atrophy, "Use it or Lose it" also applies to those aspects of ourselves that are specifically designed to enable us to deal with previously unknown experiences, the more insular and comfortable we become, our bodies then become less adaptable to changes in the environment.

The blog below talks about the thermogenesis aspect, nothing really new, a bit so so, but he has listed quite a few studies at the end which may provide some good reading for those interested.
Burning More Fat With Cold

[Omni]

Another interesting factor in thermogenesis, it's not just BAT, a protein in certain muscles, sarcolipin possibly contributes more heat than BAT.

Muscles that do nothing can keep you warm and thin - health - 09 September 2012 - New Scientist

"The most interesting finding is that mice unable to make sarcolipin are more susceptible to obesity," says Andy Whittle of the University of Cambridge, who is testing spicy dietary treatments to ramp up the fat-burning activity of brown fat. "The research demonstrates that muscle is an important component even in mice, which have comparatively more brown fat than humans. In humans, burning fat in muscle is likely to be even more important for proper energy balance."