Drinking coffee can help fight obesity

London: Taking a coffee can stimulate the body’s own defenses that fight fat, which could be the key to fighting obesity and diabetes, according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is one of the first to be conducted in humans to find components that could have a direct effect on the functions of “brown fat,” which plays a key role in how quickly we can Burn calories. Energy.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, is one of two types of fat found in humans and other mammals, said researchers at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.
Initially only attributed to babies and mammals that hibernate, it was discovered in recent years that adults can also have brown fat.

Its main function is to generate body heat by burning calories, unlike white fat, which is the result of storing excess calories.

People with a lower body mass index (BMI), therefore, have a higher amount of brown fat.
“Brown fat works differently from other fats in your body and produces heat by burning sugar and fat, often in response to cold,” said Professor Michael Symonds of the University of Nottingham.

“Increasing your activity improves blood sugar control, as well as improving blood lipid levels and extra calories that are burned to help you lose weight. However, until now, no one has found an acceptable way to stimulate their activity in humans, “Symonds said.

“This is the first human study that shows that something like a cup of coffee can have a direct effect on our brown fat functions.

“The potential implications of our results are quite large since obesity is a major health problem for society and we also have a growing epidemic of diabetes and brown fat could potentially be part of the solution to address them,” he said.

The team began with a series of studies with stem cells to see if caffeine would stimulate brown fat.
Once they found the correct dose, they went to humans to see if the results were similar.
The team used a thermal imaging technique, which had previously been a pioneer, to track the body’s reserves of brown fat. The non-invasive technique helps the team locate brown fat and assess its ability to produce heat.

“From our previous work, we knew that brown fat is mainly found in the neck region, so we could visualize someone directly after drinking a drink to see if the brown fat was heating up,” Symonds said.

“The results were positive and now we must determine that caffeine as one of the ingredients in coffee acts as a stimulus or if there is another component that helps activate brown fat. We are currently considering caffeine supplements to check if the effect is similar.

“Once we have confirmed which component is responsible for this, it could potentially be used as part of a weight management regimen or as part of the glucose regulation program to help prevent diabetes,” he said.