As I explained in yesterday’s post, brown adipose tissue throws away fat as heat.  In scientific terms this means that normal calorie burning that produces energy (aerobic cellular metabolism) in uncoupled.  Uncoupling of cell metabolism can occur in a healthy way or an unhealthy way.  When it is unhealthy a person makes a lot of heat, inflammation, generates excessive free radicals, makes lots of lactic acid, and feels like garbage (fibromyalgia as an example).  A lower level of this is simply getting too hot too easily.  This is metabolic uncoupling as a disability.  Your body also intentionally uncouples metabolism to dispose of fat.  Your regular brown adipose tissue does this, in part, to help regulate your temperature.  Your body also uncouples metabolism in several other ways that are healthy.

When you do aerobic exercise your body starts to liberate fat to burn as the primary fuel source to sustain your activity level.  It will keep doing this as long as you keep doing aerobics.  Once you stop the aerobics then there is extra fat that has been liberated.  Your body wants to get rid of it, even though you are no longer exercising.  This new study indicates that exercise fitness will build a brown fat cell network, within your muscles, out of white fat cells that reside in your muscles.  This is different than the brown adipose tissue that was discussed yesterday.  For example, a key marker of aging is the increase in white fat that weaves its way through your muscles.  This new study suggests that not only can you get rid of it you can convert it to something useful.  This is a major discovery. 
The researchers showed that exercise turned on genes that activate the uncoupling protein of brown fat, which in called uncoupling protein 1 (UPC1).  Literally, a brown fat-like network of cells was being formed from white fat.  It is interesting that aerobic exercise also turns on another uncoupling protein called UPC3, which can be enhanced by taking coenzyme Q10 prior to exercise.  Any nutrients you take that enhance your ability to do aerobic exercise and get a good response to it should help you build up this irisin-stimulated network of brown adipose tissue cells in your muscles.  Boosting healthy uncoupling of metabolism drastically boosts fat-burning in response to exercise.  If you do it right over a few months you will feel your metabolism rejuvenate.

While this new irisin study is done with mice, irisin is present as a hormone signal in human blood and is identical to mouse irisin.  There is now a grand total of 1 irisin study in the medical literature, albeit by one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country.  Expect to hear a lot about this in the coming years.  No doubt, there will now be a mad Big Pharma dash to make irisin drugs.  Maybe you should be in a mad dash around your closest jogging trail.

Science has long recognized the importance of brown adipose tissue to help keep infants warm.  These special fat cells take a calorie and turn it into heat.  Normally a calorie is turned into 65 percent energy and 35 percent heat; then a person must use up the energy (by exercise and activity), otherwise weight gain readily occurs.  If your body is converting the calorie into heat then no exercise or activity is needed.  While the importance of this mechanism in the shiver response of infants has never been in question, the contribution of brown adipose tissue to adult fat metabolism and weight loss strategies has been a matter of controversy.

Three years ago I reported on the changing scientific tide in my article, The New View on Brown Adipose Calorie-Burning.  Using advanced scanning technology several ounces of brown adipose tissue were identified in adults in the upper back, on the sides of the neck, between the collarbone and shoulder, and along the spine.  The researchers showed the tissue was metabolically active, lighting up scans when people were exposed to cold.

The new study is a continuation of the earlier research.  It shows for the first time that brown adipose tissue burns fat, not glucose.  Brown adipose tissue contains within it some regular triglyceride fat.  Upon stimulation of brown adipose tissue it is this fat that is used to produce heat.  Interestingly, as soon as this small amount of fat is used then the brown adipose tissue starts drawing in other fat to be used to make heat, which means it is literally throwing away fat.  The researchers showed that the metabolic influence of these few ounces of fat tissue could have a significant impact on adults when exposed to cold, increasing overall metabolic rate by 80 percent for three hours, resulting in the disposal of 250 calories of fat.

Activating brown adipose tissue as a weight loss strategy is one angle on the issue and should be done in perspective, as part of an overall healthy approach.

Exposure to cold activates brown adipose tissue because it stimulates your sympathetic nerves, which then activate your brown fat.  Short bursts of strenuous exercise, push ups, pull ups, deep knee bends – done to a point of significant exertion –  will likewise stimulate sympathetic nerves to turn on brown adipose tissue.

Stimulant weight loss drugs activate sympathetic nerves and thus brown adipose tissue.  However, these often have adverse side effects to the heart and cardiovascular system due to the inappropriate over-activation of nerves.  This is why I say that activating brown adipose tissue must be done in the perspective of a person’s health.  Someone with irregular heart beats may not benefit from exercise that is too strenuous.  The more physically unfit people are or the more difficult their cardiovascular situations, the more they have to go slowly and steadily in the right direction.

In this picture green tea is a very interesting weight loss supplement.  I pointed out last November in my article, Green Tea as a Potent Weight Loss Nutrient, that green tea acts in multiple ways to help facilitate more efficient metabolism.  In fact, similar to the brown adipose tissue study above, green tea reduces weight gain from a high fat diet, which has been demonstrated in both animals and humans.

Of particular relevance is that one of the ways green tea operates is by directly activating brown adipose tissue.  This was demonstrated in a 2003 study wherein rats were fed a high fat diet; those given green tea did not gain weight.  The scientists showed that the reason was activation of brown adipose tissue by green tea.  When the sympathetic nerves were blocked with drugs then green tea no longer prevented weight gain. 

It has also been demonstrated that the catechin of green tea, epigallocatechin gallate, EGCG, inhibits an enzyme called catechol-O-methyltransferase.  This enzyme reduces the sympathetic nerve neurotransmitter, norepinephrine.  In other words, the net effect of green tea intake is to have more sympathetic nerve stimulation of brown adipose tissue.  Unlike dangerous drug stimulants, green tea is well documented to have cardiovascular benefits.

It is clear that normal weight adults have more brown adipose tissue than overweight adults, a distinct advantage that contributes to a healthier metabolism.  Green tea is a tool that can be used to help overweight people get back on track.  It is not a one-shot miracle weight loss remedy; rather it helps restore one aspect of healthy metabolism that is typically lost in overweight people.

The researchers used the well-documented model of feeding a high-fat diet to induce obesity, which readily happened to the mice not given carvacrol.  Other mice were fed 0.1% carvacrol as part of their diet.  These mice gained significantly less weight and had lower blood levels of lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides).  An analysis of gene function showed that genes leading to the formation of new fat cells were suppressed, as were genes in white adipose tissue immune cells that otherwise cause inflammation.

A key part of the weight-gain problem for any person is that immune cells start having an inflammatory party within white adipose tissue, attracting even more immune cells and causing progressive inflammation.  This problem locks in the dysfunction of white adipose tissue and contributes to stubborn weight issues.  This is the first study showing that carvacrol can directly improve this difficult problem, helping to break a vicious cycle. 

The amount of carvacrol used in the study is typical for humans taking oregano oil to support immunity.  For a 1500 calorie diet this is 1.5 calories of carvacrol or for a 2000 calorie diet it would be 2 calories.  This means if a person ate 1500 calories per day they would need 166 mgs of carvacrol, or 222 mgs for a 2000 calorie diet.  Since there are 65 mgs of carvacrol in a 100 mg oregano oil capsule, this translates to 3-4 capsules per day. 

This is the second study to show that oregano oil has anti-inflammatory properties.  An earlier study showed that it reduced inflammation in experimentally produced autoimmune arthritis.  Another earlier study showed that oregano oil also boosts dopamine levels, which helps mood and reduces cravings. 

I have also explained in an earlier detailed article, Germ Gangs Block Weight Loss, that bacterial and/or fungal overgrowth can wreak havoc with metabolism.  Clearly, oregano oil is one of the best nutrients for this issue.  Individuals with nagging digestive and/or sinus problems typically benefit from oregano oil in this context.  This is yet another angle on how oregano oil can help weight management.

Collectively, these studies indicate that oregano oil can be added to any person’s weight loss program and may be especially beneficial if a person also suffers from excess food cravings, sinus problems, digestive problems, and/or joint pain.

This is a very important topic because once thyroid function becomes stressed it has a domino effect on all other systems in the human body.  Researchers measured thyroid levels, iodine, and body mass index in 937 people and repeated the measurements six years later in 784 of them.  They found that the odds of becoming obese during the study were three times higher in people with the lowest ranges of T3 and T4.  Leptin resistance predicted functionally low T4, whereas low levels of adiponectin (which if higher would prevent insulin resistance) predicted low levels of active thyroid hormone,T3.

These later findings indicated that weight gain induced the adverse thyroid hormone changes.  We typically think of this issue the other way around, meaning that if people have slow metabolisms then they are more likely to gain weight.  This study highlights that weight gain itself is also a form thyroid distress, which is one more issue that contributes to the overall thyroid stress load.  This is consistent with a study on children I wrote about three years ago, which also demonstrated that weight gain was inflaming their thyroid glands and setting the stage for lifelong thyroid problems.  While this is a bit of a “chicken and egg” issue, it is yet another reason we should all work diligently to not gain weight.

Also of interest in this study was that the lack of iodine directly correlated to the amount of weight gain.  This indicates that weight gain in conjunction with iodine deficiency locks in poor thyroid function and adds to the magnitude of the problem.  Ensuring you are adequate in iodine is therefore basic for healthy thyroid function as well as ensures less risk for weight gain.

In 1994 that simplicity changed forever.  With the discovery of the hormone leptin and the fact that the adipocyte, fat cell, was busy not only making leptin but also making many other hormonal signals, this picture takes on even more complexity. It is now clear that your muscle cells, myocytes, are also making hormonal signals that cross-talk with your fat cells and your thyroid.  Anyone for a game of chess?

Insulin resistance comes in many shapes and sizes. At the cellular level, cells that are having too many calories stuffed into them shut the door to keep calories out; this is a key method of self-preservation. Slamming the door means taking down the receptor for insulin on the surface of the cell, which prevents the taxicab known as insulin from dropping off its passengers (sugar). 

Insulin resistance can happen at the site of a major organ such as the liver, causing such drastic problems that Type 2 diabetes is likely to occur. Over the past few years it has been proven that this type of insulin resistance is caused by a decrease in a hormone produced in fat cells called adiponectin. As leptin goes up (because of leptin resistance from overeating), adiponectin is adversely depressed.

Besides your white adipose tissue (which makes leptin and adiponectin), your muscles are the other largest organ mass in your body. It has now been found that as body weight goes up your muscles make more of a hormonal signal called myostatin, which adversely inhibits muscle growth and promotes insulin resistance.

Additionally, both muscle and fat cells make various inflammatory signals, such as IL-6, which cross-talk to each other. For example, IL-6 coming from muscles to fat can break down fat to provide fuel to muscles. Whereas IL-6 going from inflamed fat to muscles actually induces insulin resistance. 

The newest data indicates that these cross-talking metabolic signals, when in a condition of poor health, inhibit the conversion of basic thyroid hormone T4 to active T3 in muscle, thereby causing muscle fatigue and poor muscle fitness (a classic sign of hypothyroid that is now being understood for the first time). 

This data indicates that by improving the fitness of your fat you will have more muscle energy and better thyroid function. It means that if you do something to improve your thyroid function, then your fat will work better and so will your muscles. It also means that if you improve your muscle function you will have better fat function and thyroid function.

Maybe this sounds complex, so let me give you one of many potential take-home messages. If you have symptoms of low thyroid then get yourself on a consistent strength training program and gradually work to improve your muscles. The improvement in muscles will directly improve your thyroid health and help you lose weight. This will also help unravel insulin resistance and help prevent accelerated aging and Type 2 diabetes.

Leptin is made in your white adipose tissue following the ingestion of food.  It is released into your blood, travels to your brain, and gives you a “full” signal so you know when to stop eating.  Leptin also does many other things in your body. It regulates your energy level and governs all other hormones including your thyroid hormone.  Proper leptin function is vital to your health, vitality, and general survival.

One type of leptin problem is gaining weight. When you start gaining weight your hormonal communication starts becoming inefficient.  What happens is that your fat makes too much leptin, so it doesn’t get into your brain very well.  This problem is known as leptin resistance, and it is a main factor in overeating and causing trouble losing weight. 

However, that is only part of the problem.  Our bodies are genetically designed to survive food scarcity, not food excess.  They are experts at conserving during times of famine, which is a low leptin situation.  Our bodies simply do not have genetic expertise to deal with excessive food consumption, which is a high leptin situation.

When leptin levels stay too high for too long (typically when food is eaten in too great an amount and eaten too often) then cells throughout the body are exposed to excessive leptin. 

Leptin is the big-boss hormone, so when it barks out an order cells jump into line.  As you might expect, when leptin barks out faulty orders cells still respond.  These are powerful gene-level orders given directly to cells. 

When a person is gaining weight it is also typical that the thyroid gland is in a state of high stress, prone to inflammation and potential cell mutation, which could cause cancer.  The natural antioxidant defense system is compromised. 

New research shows that leptin receptors within the thyroid are forced to receive excessive orders, resulting in the growth of mutagenic cells, thereby causing thyroid cancer.  The cancer hijacks leptin signaling and uses it to foster its own growth, including the development of a blood supply to feed nutrition to the cancer. 

Such leptin receptors are present on many types of tumors, especially those related to female cancers and prostate cancer.

The study illustrates the importance of you taking charge of leptin and getting it to work correctly in your body.  The foundation for this is following the “Five Rules of the Leptin Diet,” along with exercising and taking dietary supplements as needed or helpful. 

And remember, once you get in a good weight loss trend, even though you still have pounds to lose, your blood levels of leptin will come down and so will the risks associated with high leptin levels.  As long as you maintain your weight loss trend your risks stay low.  Once you reach your goal weight and maintain your healthy habits you will have fully taken charge of this issue and thereby prevented potentially serious health problems.

For most of the past century scientists had no idea what these cilia were doing and so ignored them as a subject of interest.  Now that we have scientific tools adequate to begin understanding their function the findings are extraordinary.  Cilia are comprised of complex nanomachines that are instrumental to cellular function at the gene level.  The cilia are sensing or seeing the external environment.  Based on perception they are then sending signals into the cell to regulate cell function and growth. 

Scientists now understand that true genetic problems with cilia are a primary cause of several diseases including polycystic kidney disease and congenital heart disease.  Cilia gene-related problems can also cause liver disease and retinal degeneration.  Because cilia are on every cell, true gene problems often involve multiple organ system issues that have previously been unexplained.  Indeed, this is one of the new frontiers in our scientific understanding of our bodies.

Aside from genetic malfunction of cilia the next most important issue will be what happens when the function of cilia are not up to par.  While there is currently almost no data published on this subject, the genetic findings indicate that cilia health and optimal function will be of immense importance to your health.

At this point we don’t know whether or not there is a specific nutrient vital to cilia function.  However, it is easy to suggest that any nutrient that boosts cell membrane health or any nutrient that protects cell membranes from inflammatory or toxic insult will be of benefit to the cilia.  In other words, the more inflamed your cells the more likely cilia are to be in a less than optimal state of function.  And we definitely know that a less than optimal state of cilia communication can have significantly bad effects in multiple places throughout your body. 

The recent study that brought this topic to my awareness was conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham and presented at the December 6 American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 2011 Annual Meeting in Denver.

The researchers found disruption of the cilia within the hypothalamus gland (subconscious command and control center) disturbed appetite signaling to such an extent that overeating was the result.  They documented that such a cilia problem could actually cause leptin resistance.  In other words, when the cilia antenna in the hypothalamus went haywire the full-signal sensory system had no idea what was going on, like trying to listen to an AM radio station in a thunderstorm.  The net result was overeating and leptin resistance.

This is of particular interest for those struggling to lose weight because many other studies are showing that a reduction in brain plasticity in the hypothalamus is associated with weight problems.  This means that inflammatory wear and tear is a key problem in nagging weight issues and it is highly likely that cilia malfunction is part of that problem.

This data indicates that reducing inflammation in general and boosting brain plasticity for healthy nerve cell rejuvenation may be required for long term improvement in metabolism in those people who have ongoing issues eating more than they know they should, which is a lot of people.  Part of the benefit to this approach means that the cilia on the newly produced brain cells may actually work properly, thereby helping to restore normal communication, cell function, and appetite signaling pathways – not to mention better health throughout your entire body.  Realistically, such repair would be gradual over a period of months and therefore speaks to the importance of having willpower and consistently doing what you know is healthy while giving your body a chance to return to normal.

This study helps make the point that thyroid function is more than just an amount of thyroxine,T4, produced by your thyroid gland or taken as a medication.  In recent writing I’ve pointed out the importance of selenium for converting T4 to the biologically active form of thyroid hormone,T3, by your liver. This new study says that if your cells have adequate DHA in them, then T3 is much more effective at burning fat. The synergy of function between T3 and fish oil results in better metabolism.

I find this study especially interesting because I have seen many times over the years that individuals may need to get to fairly high doses of fish oil before weight loss kicks in, such as 2,000 – 3,000 mg. of DHA. (Getting this amount of DHA would require taking more than 10 grams of some fish oil products). 

In my early years I used to think this was because the body just wouldn’t give up bad fat until you put enough good fat in it. Over the past decade I have believed it was because at a certain level of DHA intake white adipose tissue starts working a lot better, which is true. Now from this study I can predict that a certain level of fish oil intake may be needed to optimize thyroid function within cells. It also means that if you are taking a lot of fish oil and eating well but your triglycerides are not coming down, then you should take a thyroid boosting supplement with selenium in it to better activate your T3.

The metabolic syndrome (elevated blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and abdominal weight gain) is now an epidemic in America.  Some of us have gene weaknesses that make it more likely for this collection of problems to occur when we eat too much food.  This new study showed that in both men and women, high calcium intake could prevent the gene weaknesses from manifesting, thereby reducing the risk for developing metabolic syndrome.

The entire field of epigentics is one of the most exciting new frontiers of nutritional science.  It determines how genes are turned on and off, as compared to an actual problem with the DNA.  It is clear that nutrition has a major impact on these gene settings.  Thus, if you can use nutrition to optimize a gene signal that supports health it can help to compensate for a weakness in that system.  This means we can use nutrition to offset gene-related disease risk – which is great news for everyone.

This study shows that higher calcium intake can encourage better gene signaling relating to your metabolism.  This is likely a key reason that calcium intake is associated with so many positive health benefits in addition to your bones.

In this weight loss study both the control group and the calcium/vitamin D groups; however, the addition of the basic nutrients resulted a higher quality weight loss – meaning that the most dangerous type of fat was lost at a better rate in those with calcium and vitamin D. 

While some people may be looking around for a magic nutrient that melts away the undesired pounds, it is much more realistic to understand that nutrients help guide metabolism in the right direction so that you can get more benefit from a consistently good diet and exercise lifestyle.

In this regard, there are many nutrients that are fundamental to good metabolism.  If you lack any of them losing weight will be more difficult.  I have reviewed all of these important basic nutrients in a previous article, The Leptin Diet Weight Loss Challenge #1 – Overview and Basic Needs.  I highly recommend you read this article if you have weight loss as a goal for 2012. 

This new study reminds us that many nutrients we think of as common are important to metabolism working properly.  Certainly there are a wide variety of additional fat-burning, thyroid-helping, and appetite-modulating nutrients that can help move you in the right direction.  Just remember that the best place to start is ensuring your basics are covered.