Beige Fat Helps Fight Obesity

White fat is the unsightly mass that hangs over your belt and stores excess energy. Brown fat is a highly thermogenic tissue that converts food energy to heat instead of storing it as fat. Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a new kind of fat cell called beige fat, which works with exercise to promote white fat loss. During exercise, the muscles produce a hormone called irisin, which increases the activity of brown fat and promotes weight loss. Beige fat cells increase the conversion of chemical energy to heat in response to high levels of irisin. Beige fat cells may be an important tissue for promoting exercise-induced fat loss. (Cell, published online)