Both exercise and cold burn fat, but how?

Published Wednesday 2 May 2018

By Ana Sandoiu

Fact checked by Jasmin Collier

Why is physical exercise so beneficial to our health? A new study reveals part of the answer, as a fat molecule — which improves cardiometabolic health — is found to be released during exercise.

When we're cold, we burn fat, and a new study helps to explain why and how.

Physical activity and our heart and metabolic 
health are known to be intimately linked.

Even the slightest increase in physical activity levels lowers cardiometabolic risk, studies have shown, while less physical activity raises the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

[kardiovaskulär =(medicinsk term) som avser hjärtat och blodkärlen || -t ]

But why is exercise so good for our body, and how does it help us to manage fat levels and keep a healthy weight?

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center — affiliated with Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA — in collaboration with scientists at the Ohio State University in Columbus set out to investigate.

The researchers found that even a short, moderate bout of exercise boosts the levels of a key lipid that is released by brown fat, or the "good" type.

Brown fat is considered to be "good" because, unlike white fat — which has been tied to conditions such as heart disease and diabetes — it burns calories; the main purpose of brown fat is to convert the food we eat into energy.

The new findings — which are now published in the journal Cell Metabolism — "highlight another mechanism for the beneficial effects of exercise," explains study co-author Laurie Goodyear, a senior investigator at the Joslin Diabetes Center.