--- description: The good news is that you can turn your body fat into a super-burner that’s better at melting away calories and lowering blood sugar. But it takes a lot to make the switch title: Scientists Report New Way to Burn Fat More Efficiently image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1edf4ce31c2d9600/69885d738e06013e52461a82/gettyimages-506115021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Obesity](/tag/obesity/) ## Obesity Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Kind of Body Fat Burns Calories More Quickly ## Video: The Truth About Fat [Watch (HLS stream): The Truth About Fat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8) (5:15)  _Published 2014-06-12. When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone_  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Aug 4, 2015 4:00 PM CUT  Overweight businessman with copy space Overweight businessman with copy spacePeter Dazeley—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Aug 4, 2015 4:00 PM CUT For years researchers have been tantalizing us with news of a [mysterious type of fat](http://healthland.time.com/2012/01/26/how-now-brown-fat-scientist-are-onto-a-new-way-to-lose-weight/ "undefined") that can burn through calories and keep blood sugar levels in check. Unlike white fat that tends to sit in deposits where we least want them, this other kind of fat—called brown fat—is scant inside the human body. While newborns tend to have more brown fat, the average adult harbors barely two ounces of the stuff. As little of it as we have, recent studies have suggested that brown fat can be triggered under the right conditions. And now, in a new paper, scientists report for the first time that it’s possible to turn white fat into brown fat — or at least something that acts like brown fat and burns up more calories. Researchers had [accomplished the feat in animals](http://time.com/3482856/brown-fat-weight-loss/ "undefined"), but the latest study, published in the journal _Cell Metabolism_, is the first to describe the phenomenon in people. The research was conducted by Ladros Sidossis from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and his colleagues. While previous studies showed that cold temperatures could activate brown fat in healthy people, none demonstrated that the stress of the frigid exposure could transform white fat into brown fat. Speculating that it would take an extreme and continued stress on the body for that to happen, Sidossis decided to study brown fat stores in burn patients; as director of the metabolism unit at Shriners Hospitals for Children, he knew that burn injuries that cover more than 30% of the body caused the body’s stress response to remain high for weeks. Indeed, when he compared white fat samples taken from the patients soon after their injury to those of healthy controls, he found markedly higher signs of a revved-up energy process in these cells that showed the white fat was acting more like brown fat. Confirming the finding further, when he compared the burn patients’ white fat cells soon after their injury and then a month later, he found signs that the white fat had reverted back to its original state again as the patients began recovering and their stress response waned. Of course, Sidossis is in no way suggesting that burns are a strategy for enhancing brown fat stores. What’s important is the fact that the study showed it’s possible to make white fat burn more calories, something that could be the start of a new way of addressing obesity and diabetes. “The next step is to find the mechanism of how this is happening,” he says. “Then we can find drugs that mimic this effect to turn white fat into a more metabolically active form to help normalize weight and blood sugar.” Scientists working with animals are already heading down that path; they’ve identified some 40 agents that might be useful in convincing white fat to work more efficiently. Now that there’s evidence that the process does occur in people — albeit under extreme conditions — studying those substances further to see if they can accomplish the same transformation of white fat, without the stress, seems worthwhile. **MORE:** [This New Drug Turns ‘Bad’ White Fat Into ‘Good’ Brown Fat](http://time.com/3736916/white-brown-fat-weight-loss-study-gc-1/ "undefined") ### See the 10 Healthiest Cities to Live in America  Honolulu, Hawaii Best Place for Lifelong Health The heavenly climate helps, but the key to well-being here also includes enviable health care and a rich cultural tradition of looking out for one another. Colin Anderson—Blend Images/Corbis  San Francisco Bay Area, Calif. Best Place for Eating Right. The "farm to table" movement began here. The region's bounty of produce and year-round growing season make eating healthy—and local—a natural. Getty Images  Burlington, Vt. Best Place for Raising Healthy Kids This New England city offers great schools, excellent pediatric care, loads of culture and limitless options for healthy outdoor fun all year long. Matt Hogan/www.mphoganphoto.com  Silicon Valley, Calif. Best Place for Workplace Wellness With treadmill desks, meetings on bikes, time off for creativity, and gobs of organic food, tech titans are reinventing how to stay healthy on the job. Jim Wilson—The New York Times/Redux  Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. Best Place for Aging Well Yes, it can be cold. But with a plethora of stimulating activities and a robust web of support, the Twin Cities prove that growing old doesn't mean slowing down. Getty Images  Denver and Boulder, Colo. Best Place for Keeping Fit The urge to get outside and get moving is contagious in these Rocky Mountain cities, where physical challenge is built into the landscape. Celin Serbo—Aurora Photos/Corbis  Plano, Texas Best Place for Staying Safe Once a rural outpost, this booming, diverse city has kept its small-town vibe, thanks in part to a police force and community that knows how to work together. Misty Keasler—Redux for TIME  Portland, Ore. Best Place for a Healthy Environment Small, walkable neighborhoods, 300 miles of bike paths, and urban policies that foster active living and sustainability make for one clean, green city. Getty Images  Boston, Mass. Best Place for Health Care This history-rich city is home to some of the nation's most advanced medical institutions and policies that help ensure that quality care is available to all. K.C. Cohen—Courtesy of Boston Children's Hospital  Provo and Orem, Utah Best Place for Spiritual Well-Being A stunning Rocky Mountain backdrop and a tight-knit population that lives its faith contribute not only to this region's serenity but also to lower rates of disease. Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3981057/body-fat-that-burns-calories-more-quickly-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3981057/body-fat-that-burns-calories-more-quickly-2/"},"headline":"This Kind of Body Fat Burns Calories More Quickly","datePublished":"2015-08-04T16:00:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:13.128Z","description":"The good news is that you can turn your body fat into a super-burner that’s better at melting away calories and lowering blood sugar. But it takes a lot to make the switch","url":"https://time.com/3981057/body-fat-that-burns-calories-more-quickly-2/","keywords":["Obesity","Research","overweight","diabetes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1edf4ce31c2d9600/69885d738e06013e52461a82/gettyimages-506115021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1edf4ce31c2d9600/69885d738e06013e52461a82/gettyimages-506115021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"506115021","caption":"506115021","creditText":"Peter Dazeley—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obesity/","name":"Obesity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3981057/body-fat-that-burns-calories-more-quickly-2/","name":"This Kind of Body Fat Burns Calories More Quickly"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Truth About Fat","description":"When you want to lose weight or get healthy, what is the first thing you would normally cut from your diet? If you said fat, you're not alone","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uYGhfNfS/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-12T14:12:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uYGhfNfS.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3981057/body-fat-that-burns-calories-more-quickly-2/","duration":"PT5M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3981057/body-fat-that-burns-calories-more-quickly-2/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```