Fat is fat, right? There's belly fat, leg fat, even neck fat. But when all is said and done, fat is fat. And the less of it you have the better. Except…for brown fat. Unlike white fat cells that store energy, brown fat burns energy. It's typically found in hibernating animals and human babies. When it's cold, brown fat burns calories, which releases heat to keep the body warm. Until recently, scientists thought that as people grew, their brown fat melted away. But it turns out that human adults have some brown fat, too.
脂肪就是脂肪，對(duì)嗎？肚子上有脂肪，腿上有脂肪，即使是脖子上也會(huì)長(zhǎng)脂肪。歸根結(jié)底，脂肪就是脂肪。并且脂肪越少越好。除了褐色脂肪以外。不同于用于儲(chǔ)存能量的白色脂肪細(xì)胞，褐色脂肪能燃燒能量。特別是在冬眠的動(dòng)物和人類寶寶的體內(nèi)能夠找到它們的身影。天氣寒冷時(shí)，褐色脂肪會(huì)消耗能量，并釋放出熱量來抵御寒冷。直到近年來科學(xué)家們才發(fā)現(xiàn)，隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，褐色脂肪也在逐漸消失。不過事實(shí)證明，成年人體內(nèi)仍含有一些褐色脂肪。
This discovery is pretty new, so scientists are still figuring out what it means, and whether brown fat can somehow be used to help people lose weight. But there are some promising signs. Studies have shown that lean people tend to have more brown fat, and that the fat is most active in cool temperatures. So it's possible that people become obese partly because they don't have enough brown fat to burn excess calories. Scientists are now working on ways to help obese bodies create more brown fat.
這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)很新奇，所以科學(xué)家仍然在研究這個(gè)問題，他們要研究出棕色脂肪是否能夠幫助人類減輕體重。 但也有一些令人鼓舞的跡象。研究表明，身材苗條的人體內(nèi)含有更多褐色脂肪，并且在涼爽的氣溫下這種脂肪最活躍。所以人會(huì)變肥胖有部分原因可能是由于體內(nèi)沒有足夠的褐色脂肪來消耗多余的熱量。目前科學(xué)家正在研究幫助肥胖患者體內(nèi)生成更多褐色脂肪的途徑。
Experimenting with proteins, Harvard researchers have managed to ramp up production of brown fat cells in mice. Brown fat is no miracle cure for obesity. It's not clear whether having more brown fat actually does or could lead to more weight loss. And scientists are a long way from being able to increase brown fat stores in people. But at the very least, we've learned that not all fat is necessarily bad. Down the road, brown fat may help make people's lives better.
哈佛大學(xué)研究人員用蛋白質(zhì)做實(shí)驗(yàn)，成功地逐步提高了小鼠體內(nèi)褐色脂肪的含量。褐色脂肪不是治療肥胖者的奇跡。至于含有更多的褐色脂肪是否能減掉更多的體重這一點(diǎn)還不確定。且在人們體內(nèi)存儲(chǔ)更多的褐色脂肪方面，科學(xué)家們還有很長(zhǎng)的路要走。但至少我們了解了一個(gè)事實(shí)：并不是所有的脂肪都是不好的。也許在不久的將來，褐色脂肪會(huì)讓人們的生活更加美好。
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