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Transcript of “BATting for a win against obesity means going out into the cold”

Despite the concerted effort, the scale beams at you, you’re just as fat this week, as last week. What is wrong with YOU ? Maybe you’re BAT deficient.

• You’ve tried the lettuce leaves for dinner.
• You’ve tried the working out at the gym till you drop.
• You’ve tried the dodgy, pricey, weight loss supplement.

BUT despite the concerted effort, the scale beams at you, you’re just as fat this week, as last week.

EISH !

What is wrong with YOU ? Maybe you’re BAT deficient.

The formula for weight loss

For years, the gurus have proclaimed the formula for weight loss to be simple..

CALORIES IN must be less than CALORIES OUT

Translated that means – eat less and move more. Now anyone with a weight problem, could tell the guru, it is not so SIMPLE.

So the formula is not the WHOLE STORY.

There is something MISSING…. one of the factors that is not being considered is

That fat dogs (and fat people) are running on a cooler setting .

Maybe it is time to stop focusing on the calories in / calories out, it is time to consider what happens to the calories INSIDE.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT)

BAT cells are meant to be part of the human infrastructure – these brown adipose tissues are designed to be our built in heaters. When the temperatures begin to fall, our BAT cells fire up and begin burning.

The first thing they burn, is the fat stored within them. When they have exhausted this supply – they begin reaching into the cookie jar, the stores in your white fat cells or WATS. And ……………….using up the stores in the cupboard, flattens your protruding belly and brings relief to those stressed out white fat cells.

Unfortunately, in a warm modern world, BAT cells are thin on the ground.

But this situation is not irreparable – this is the finding of a group of Japanese researchers.

Hard labour in Siberia

The researcher recruited 51 healthy male volunteers – all of whom were pretty skinny. They were scanned, using fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography, for signs of BAT activity. Just under half of them (22), showed no evidence of any BAT activity – effectively they were BAT deficient.

These 22 recruits were then divided into the “treatment” groups.

• One group, the control, carried on living “normally”
• The second group, were required to do “hard labour” in Siberia. I know, I know………….. it sounds horrific. Actually, all that happened, is these guys had to spend two hours of their day, in a coldish room.

The temperature dial was not set for a Siberian winter i.e. -40ºC, but it was a little chilly in the room. The temperature was set to be 17°C. Cold, but not freezing, unless you’re South African – our definition of cold, is anything under 20°C.

PS. At 17ºC we have at least one jersey on, if the temperature drops below 15ºC, we’ve turned on the heater. The idea of minus anything is too scary to contemplate.

No jackets, No heaters

The participants had to endure the cold al naturale – no jackets, no heaters. They were wearing clothes, it was not that AL NATURALE.

Fortunately, 17ºC is not so cold that your teeth knock together through shivering. But it is cold enough, to fire up your body’s non-shivering thermogenesis mechanism.

Which, you guessed it…………….. involves BAT cells.

6 weeks in Siberia

So the 6 week stint in “Siberia” turned all of the volunteers into BAT burners.

The “problem” of being BAT deficient was solved.

So there is hope…………………given the “right” circumstances, COLD, we can acquire more BAT.

More BAT less fat

Amazingly, the trip to “Siberia” caused these already skinny guys, to be………………… “SKINNIER”. Not on the outside, but on the inside.

There body weight remained stable.

The amount of fat-mass, decreased. BIG TIME ! The amount of fat decreased on average, by 5.2 %. Impressive, since these guys, officially did not have excess fat to begin with.

NB. Your fat mass – is what causes all the trouble, because fat cells become “inflamed”.

Taking a trip to Siberia

Siberia……………. I am guessing it is not on your holiday list. But, this research suggests it should be, if you want to be a FAT BURNING machine. You should try to visit “Siberia” regularly, ideally, everyday.

Ways to do it ?

If you’re in a warmer climate

• Turn down the air conditioner in the office to 17ºC – then sit there. Do not put on a jersey.
• Go for a swim
• Take a cold shower

If you’re in a cooler climate

• avoid turning on the central heating,
• only put your sweater on, when the temperature has dived below 15ºC.

NOTE : Just watch that you don’t do too much compensatory eating. If this happens, the fat you’re burning, will just be replenished.

Further reading