May 14, 2024

Harvard Scientists Discover How Cold Temperatures Could Help You Lose Weight

Over 40% of adult Americans are overweight, a complex condition that raises the threat of diabetes, heart illness, and a number of types of cancer. By producing low-grade chronic inflammation and the accumulation of immune cells in insulin-sensitive tissues, obesity is one factor that can contribute to other health problems. Scientists think that reversing, or “dealing with,” this persistent inflammation may postpone the introduction of obesity-related illness like diabetes and perhaps make it easier to lose weight.
The research team also found that the mechanism was reliant on brown adipose tissue, which is frequently referred to as “excellent fat,” releasing a naturally happening particle called Maresin 2 in reaction to cold stimulation. Brown adipose tissue is known as an active endocrine organ since it produces particles that interact with other tissues and manage metabolic process.

Scientists found that by lowering swelling, cold temperatures can assist in the fight versus obesity and related metabolic diseases.
Brown adipose tissue is activated by the cold to release anti-inflammatory compounds.
Over 40% of adult Americans are obese, a complex condition that raises the risk of diabetes, heart problem, and numerous kinds of cancer. By creating low-grade chronic swelling and the buildup of immune cells in insulin-sensitive tissues, obesity is one element that can contribute to other health problems. Researchers think that reversing, or “solving,” this persistent swelling may postpone the introduction of obesity-related diseases like diabetes and possibly make it much easier to slim down.
Scientists from Brigham and Womens Hospital and the Joslin Diabetes Center found that in diet-induced overweight mice, exposure to cold temperatures improved insulin level of sensitivity and glucose tolerance while resolving obesity-induced inflammation. Their findings were reported in a new paper that was published in Nature Metabolism.

The research team likewise discovered that the system was dependent on brown adipose tissue, which is frequently referred to as “excellent fat,” launching a naturally occurring particle called Maresin 2 in action to cold stimulation. Brown adipose tissue is understood as an active endocrine organ since it secretes molecules that communicate with other tissues and manage metabolic process.
” Extensive evidence suggests that obesity and metabolic syndrome are connected with chronic inflammation that leads to systemic insulin resistance, so interrupting swelling in obesity might provide promising therapies for obesity-related disease,” stated co-corresponding author Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D., a senior private investigator in the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Joslin Diabetes Center and teacher of medication at Harvard Medical School.
” We discovered that cold exposure reduced swelling and improved metabolism in weight problems, moderated at least in part by the activation of brown fat. These findings recommend a formerly unacknowledged function of brown fat in promoting the resolution of inflammation in obesity.”
In two earlier experiments, Tseng and associates found that brown fat might be activated by cold exposure to develop certain lipid arbitrators that control nutrient metabolic process. In the current research study, the researchers determined an unique function for a lipid conciliator produced from brown fat to resolve inflammation.
In the current research study, the researchers created a mouse design that, when provided a basic high-fat, Western diet, establishes obesity.
When the animals were exposed to a cold environment (around 40 degrees Fahrenheit), the scientists observed that the animals insulin level of sensitivity and glucose metabolism enhanced and their body weight reduced, compared to control animals kept at a thermoneutral zone– the ecological temperature where the body does not require to produce heat for preserving its core body temperature.
Whats more, the scientists also noticed an extensive enhancement in inflammation, as measured by lowered levels of a significant inflammatory marker.
” We found that brown fat produces Maresin 2, which resolves inflammation systemically and in the liver,” stated co-corresponding author Matthew Spite, Ph.D., a lead investigator at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School. “These findings suggest a previously unacknowledged function of brown adipose tissue in promoting the resolution of inflammation in obesity by means of the production of this crucial lipid arbitrator.”
Additionally, these findings also recommend that Maresin 2 could have scientific applications as a treatment for patients with obesity, metabolic disease, or other diseases connected to chronic swelling; however, the molecule itself breaks down quickly in the body. Tseng and coworkers look for a more stable chemical analog for clinical usage.
The team keeps in mind a faster way to improved metabolic health may already exist. Several human research studies performed at Joslin and somewhere else reveal that exposure to slightly cold temperature levels (50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit) has actually been revealed to be sufficient to activate brown adipose tissue and improve metabolism, though the systems are not well comprehended.
Reference: “Brown adipose tissue-derived MaR2 adds to cold-induced resolution of swelling” by Satoru Sugimoto, Hebe Agustina Mena, Brian E. Sansbury, Shio Kobayashi, Tadataka Tsuji, Chih-Hao Wang, Xuanzhi Yin, Tian Lian Huang, Joji Kusuyama, Sean D. Kodani, Justin Darcy, Gerson Profeta, Nayara Pereira, Rudolph E. Tanzi, Can Zhang, Thomas Serwold, Efi Kokkotou, Laurie J. Goodyear, Aaron M. Cypess, Luiz Osório Leiria, Matthew Spite, and Yu-Hua Tseng, 27 June 2022, Nature Metabolism.DOI: 10.1038/ s42255-022-00590-0.
This work was supported in part by United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants (R01DK122808, R01DK077097, R01DK102898, R01HL106173, R01DK099511, R01DK112283, P30DK0368360) and by United States Army Medical Research grant W81XWH-17-1-0428; the Manpei Suzuki Diabetes Foundation in Japan; grant 2019/20554 -7 from The São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP; an American Diabetes Association post-doctoral fellowship (1-16-PDF-063); the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) grants 2017/02684 and 2019/26008 -4.
Spite and Tseng are creators of a pending provisionary patent application related to Maresin 2 and metabolic therapies.