14 DAY TRIAL // Experiments carried out on mice shed new light on how the human body reacts to the cold temperatures recorded during winter months.
Thus, scientists claim that lower than average temperatures activate the brown fat virtually everybody carries inside their bodies. This in turn translates into higher mortality rates among heart disease sufferers.
Unlike white fat, brown adipose tissue is mostly used for heat generation.
EurekExplains further explains that, whereas the human body accesses white fat reserves whenever it feels like it, brown fat reserves are often used during winter months alone.
When finally made use of, this brown fat causes atherosclerotic plaque to build up inside blood vessels.
Naturally, people who are already suffering from atherosclerosis or other heart disease are the ones most affected by this phenomenon.
What's interesting is that, until now, it was believed that burning brown fat during winter can only benefit a individual's overall well-being.
In other words, everybody worked on the assumption that the loss of internal body fat would most likely leave a person feeling healthier and more energetic.
“At first, we thought that the cold activation of brown fat would only make the mice thinner and healthier. Instead, we found that they ended up having more fat stored in the blood vessels. This came as a surprise and was the opposite of what we thought would happen,” scientist Yihao Cao sums up the results of his and his colleagues' experiments on rats.
“If this is also true for humans, it might be wise to recommend that people who suffer from cardiovascular disease should avoid exposure to the cold and to put on warm clothes when they are outside during the winter,” he advises.
Yihao Cao and his fellow researchers hope that they will soon get the chance to test their theory on human volunteers.
A detailed account of this investigation and its findings is made available to the public in the July 3 issue of the scientific journal Cell Metabolism.