Research
Energy balance
Chronic daily cold exposure (17°C for 2 hours) recruits brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans, leading to a significant reduction in body fat mass.
To potentially reduce body fat by recruiting brown fat, you can try exposing yourself to cold temperatures (around 17°C or 63°F) for 2 hours daily for 6 weeks. This might increase your energy expenditure and help lower body fat, especially if you currently have low brown fat activity.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Daily 2-hour cold exposure at 17°C for 6 weeks resulted in a parallel increase in BAT activity and CIT and a concomitant decrease in body fat mass.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with objective imaging (PET/CT) and metabolic measurements, though sample size is small (n=22).
Source
Recruited brown adipose tissue as an antiobesity agent in humans
Takeshi Yoneshiro et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2013
DOI 10.1172/jci67803
crossover · n=51Cited 944×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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