New discovery helps treat obesity without exercise

There are two types of fat in our body, one good and one bad. Recently, American scientists discovered a way to convert bad fat into good fat. It is expected to help treat obesity and diabetes.

In the human body, there is white fat and brown fat. White fat is harmful fat, it stores calories and when there is excess, it will cause obesity. Brown fat is beneficial fat, it helps burn calories from white fat to create energy, according to The Independent.

Another type of fat that is considered beneficial is beige fat. It was only discovered in 2015 and is considered an intermediate type of fat between white and brown. American scientists discovered that blocking the activity of a protein in white fat can turn this harmful fat into beige fat, according to the Daily Mail.

Harmful white fat often accumulates in the abdomen, thighs and hips.

Studies have found that beige fat is very similar to brown fat. Both are also capable of burning calories from harmful white fat. Therefore, beige fat is considered the key to fighting obesity.

“Our research shows that by controlling the activity of a protein, we can convert harmful white fat into beneficial beige fat, helping to burn white fat,” said professor of medicine Irfan Lodhi, who led the study at the University of Washington School of Medicine (USA).

Normally, the fat that accumulates in the abdomen, thighs, and hips is harmful white fat. Beneficial brown fat is located in the neck and shoulders.

In a study on mice, scientists inhibited the activity of PexRAP, a protein important in white fat cells. As a result, the mice had increased amounts of beige fat. They became thinner than other normal mice, even though both groups ate the same amount of food.

The new discovery is significant because scientists hope it could be the key to treating overweight and obesity, which currently affects about 2 billion people, including adults and children, around the world, according to the Daily Mail.

Scientists are now working on a way to block the activity of the PexRAP protein in human white fat cells without causing any harm to health. Dr. Lodhi believes that if this can be done, the number of obese people in the world will decrease dramatically.

According to TNO