Often times when we hear the word fat, we can’t help but get a negative feeling in our gut. But there is fat that actually helps you burn fat? We know that brown fat, when activated, will burn the yellow or white fat that causes weight and health issues. Brown fat is also known as thermogenesis fat because it is a fat that burns fat. Thermogenesis is the biochemical process that raises your body temperature through mitochondria in the cells, basically increasing your metabolic rate.  In short, activated brown fat causes the body to burn.

So how do we activate our brown fat? Let’s first take a look at the endocrine system. A majority of people coming into us have low thyroid and adrenal fatigue. This inhibits brown fat activity. When dealing with hypothyroidism, your adrenals no longer secrete enough of the hormone norepinephrine, which activates brown fat. You can combat this through supporting your thyroid and adrenals properly by the correct nutrition.

Number one, it is very important to minimize your carbohydrate consumption. Too many carbohydrates causes stress on the thyroid and adrenals and reduces brown fat activity.  Consuming trace minerals found in our Real Sea Salt, Protein Pantry’s Complete Nutrition Multivitamin and our compliant list of vegetables is very important for supporting the thyroid and adrenals. Eating certain fats and proteins is also extremely important to activating brown fat. Too little fat consumption or the wrong kinds of fats can reduce your brown fat activity. Over exercising can also lower your brown fat activity.

Consuming omega-3 fatty acids and medium-chain triglycerides are key for brown fat activity. You can find these useful fats in organic, grass-fed beef and organic, grass-fed chicken and wild caught fish and Protein Pantry’s Caprylic Acid supplement. Dairy such as aged cheeses, real butter and real cream from organic, grass fed cattle are great foods to activate brown fat as well.

We always explain to our Protein Pantry dieters how the fat and minerals we have them consume supports cellular structure and actually helps them burn fat. We also talk about how this changes their body chemistry and this is just one example. The other great benefit in nutritioning yourself like this is how satisfied you feel while following this protocol.  Bon Appétit!

Albright, Ann L. and Stern, Judity S. Adipose Tissue. Department of Nutrition and Internal Medicine, University of California at Davis

Brown adipose tissue: therapeutic target in obesity treatment? Cypess AM. N Engl JMed.