We’ve been talking about fat a lot recently, and today we introduced the topic of good fat (brown fat) and bad fat. Typical fat that you see me liposuctioning out is yellow/white, but brown fat is different. Brown fat is darker because of higher levels of dark colored mitochondria, which are the engines that sustain cell activity and energy.

As babies, we have more brown fat because we need the increased-energy-burning cells it has in order to maintain our body heat and survive. But as we age, our fat serves more to insulate and conserve heat and energy rather than create heat. So the white/yellow fat replaces the brown. Some adults have some brown fat in their back and neck, so much so that it is sometimes mistaken for metastatic tumors on PET scans. That's how hot brown fat is! 

More research needs to be done, but right now there is no way to create brown fat selectively. I plan on wishing for some for Christmas!

Dr. Drew Ordon

More from this episode.

• fat
• brown
• fat