Hormonal
Obesity and aging are associated with the 'whitening' of brown adipose tissue, characterized by lipid accumulation, loss of mitochondria, and impaired thermogenesis, which contributes to metabolic dysfunction.
As you age or gain weight, your body's ability to burn fat as heat (via brown fat) naturally declines, contributing to further weight gain and metabolic issues. This process is called 'whitening.' While you cannot reverse aging, you can potentially slow this decline by maintaining physical activity and exposing yourself to cold, which may help preserve your brown fat function and metabolic health.
It is widely acknowledged that both brown adipose tissue (BAT) and beige adipose tissue are susceptible to the whitening effect frequently observed in obesity... obesity and aging are associated with functional decline and adaptive thermogenic impairment in human BAT
Why this rating
Based on a review of multiple studies showing consistent findings in animal models and human observations.
Source
Plasticity of Adipose Tissues: Interconversion among White, Brown, and Beige Fat and Its Role in Energy Homeostasis
Yanqiu Peng et al. · Biomolecules · 2024
DOI 10.3390/biom14040483
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