Food for Thought

Patricia of Subjective Soup noted that her mother had been discussing "brown fat" with her and noted an article in the New York Times about it. This was in her latest blog. I mentioned that I had read that same article and had planned to write about it myself. And so I did, mostly because it got me to thinking.

For those of you that don't know what "brown fat" is (as I didn't), brown fat is a type of fat very high in mitochondria that has been known for some time to burn fat in infants as a heat source to prevent hypothermia. Infants have a hard time shivering and are quite susceptible to to hypothermia given their large surface area and small volume (and a number of other issues). By burning excess fat, they have an alternate method to keep warm. Brown fat makes it possible.

Up until recently, it was assumed that stores of brown fat (along the upper spine and back) just transformed into the regular "white fat" as the baby got older. Apparently, this is not so. Adults still have a store of this fat-burning fat. According to the New York Times article, those with larger or more active stores tend to be more slim, have a higher metabolic rate, be younger. Cold helps activate it (like sitting in a room at between 61-66 degrees), at least in mice as demonstrated by different experiments including one where mice, genetically predisposed toward obesity, were placed in a cold environment and their brown fat activated and caused a significant weight loss.

Certain hormones and cold can activated these stores. However, beta blockers can suppress brown fat activation. And that's what got me thinking.

I am fat. There are a number of good reasons for this. Most of my favored activities are sedentary. I have a knee defect that makes almost anything where I'm on my feet for any length of time very bad (and running/jumping/twisting the legs if very bad). I love to eat good food (and have a husband who can really cook). But I wonder...

When I lived in Las Vegas, I walked everywhere and I like walking. In Houston, walking is horrible with the humidity and heat. I was also very slender.

In fact, I was pretty much slender until after college when I was first treated for the recurrent migraines...with beta blockers. Of course, that's when I had my knee surgery too. And the change was drastic. I wonder...

Still, my mother-in-law went through her whole life being underweight, almost dangerously so, until about fifteen years ago. I'd be curious how closely that links up to when she started getting treated for her cluster migraines.

I wonder if the wonder drugs used to treat heart disorders, some nervous disorders and migraines might have had an unexpected side effect. There are a lot of potential causes for our obesity overload. I just wonder if there aren't reasons we never thought about like our easy control of our temperature environment and our use of of certain drugs for many diverse disorders.

That's, of course, speculation. And probably a modicum of wishful thinking. Wouldn't it be nice to have an explanation for the way things change from when we're young to when we're adults? Wouldn't it be nice to know there's a reason some things are harder for some than others?

The thought reminds me that it's easy to look for simple solutions, to, for example, change one's environment to make the road smooth for our cars, without thinking of what those changes are doing to water runoff and erosion patterns. Small changes can have unforeseen effects and it's easy to lose sight of the big picture.

I'm not saying this is the explanation. Just food for thought.