Whether your fat cells or adipocytes start to burn calories like hell or suspiciously conserve their sebum deposits depends, to a large extent, on the temperature. When the temperature drops, some cells responsible for storing fat release part of their energy in the form of heat by order of the brain , which releases norepinephrine. But in addition, adipocytes have a direct mechanism to burn calories if the environment cools down, as has just been revealed by a study by Harvard Medical School (USA) published in the journal PNAS .
In experiments with white and brown fat cells in the laboratory, Bruce M. Spiegelman and his colleagues found that by maintaining the temperature between 27ºC and 33ºC, these cells double the levels of a protein called UCP1 that pushes them to give off heat and energy (the process of thermogenesis) , burning its reserves. In other words, fat cells detect cold by themselves and react to it by burning fat without the need for the brain or another organ to give them any command. The finding could lead to new treatments for obesity and other metabolic diseases .
