After a cup of coffee, your brown fat cells produce more heat
After a cup of coffee your body consumes more energy. A cup of coffee contains enough caffeine to activate the brown fat cells in your body and makes them convert more calories into heat. English cell biologists, affiliated with the University of Nottingham, write this in Scientific Reports.
In vitro study
The researchers exposed very young fat cells, which they themselves had grown from mouse mesenchymal stem cells, to a physiologically relevant concentration of caffeine. Caffeine switched on the signal protein UCP1, which makes cells use their energy more generously. Not surprisingly, caffeine increased the number of mitochondria in the cells.
Oxygen exposure rate [OCR] increased due to exposure to caffeine. The cells used up more oxygen.
At the same time, caffeine made the fat cells produce more beta-3 adrenergic receptors and fewer beta-2 adrenergic receptors.
Human study
The researchers got test subjects to drink a cup of coffee. They made that coffee by dissolving a sachet of Espresso Original in 200 milliliters of warm water. This cup of coffee contained 65 milligrams of caffeine.
Just before the test subjects were given their coffee, the researchers measured how much heat the body generated just above the collarbone. There are many brown fat cells in that area. Half an hour after the test subjects had drunk their coffee, the researchers repeated their measurements.
The figures below speak for themselves.
Conclusion
"Brown fat works in a different way to other fat in your body and produces heat by burning sugar and fat, often in response to cold", explains co-author Michael Symonds in a press release. [sciencedaily.com June 24, 2019] "Increasing its activity improves blood sugar control as well as improving blood lipid levels and the extra calories burnt help with weight loss. However, until now, no one has found an acceptable way to stimulate its activity in humans."
"This is the first study in humans to show that something like a cup of coffee can have a direct effect on our brown fat functions. The results were positive and we now need to ascertain that caffeine as one of the ingredients in the coffee is acting as the stimulus or if there's another component helping with the activation of brown fat. We are currently looking at caffeine supplements to test whether the effect is similar."
"Once we have confirmed which component is responsible for this, it could potentially be used as part of a weight management regime or as part of glucose regulation programme to help prevent diabetes."
"The potential implications of our results are pretty big, as obesity is a major health concern for society and we also have a growing diabetes epidemic and brown fat could potentially be part of the solution in tackling them.
Source: Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 24;9(1):9104.
After a cup of coffee your body consumes more energy. A cup of coffee contains enough caffeine to activate the brown fat cells in your body and makes them convert more calories into heat. English cell biologists, affiliated with the University of Nottingham, write this in Scientific Reports.
In vitro study
The researchers exposed very young fat cells, which they themselves had grown from mouse mesenchymal stem cells, to a physiologically relevant concentration of caffeine. Caffeine switched on the signal protein UCP1, which makes cells use their energy more generously. Not surprisingly, caffeine increased the number of mitochondria in the cells.
Oxygen exposure rate [OCR] increased due to exposure to caffeine. The cells used up more oxygen.
At the same time, caffeine made the fat cells produce more beta-3 adrenergic receptors and fewer beta-2 adrenergic receptors.
Human study
The researchers got test subjects to drink a cup of coffee. They made that coffee by dissolving a sachet of Espresso Original in 200 milliliters of warm water. This cup of coffee contained 65 milligrams of caffeine.
Just before the test subjects were given their coffee, the researchers measured how much heat the body generated just above the collarbone. There are many brown fat cells in that area. Half an hour after the test subjects had drunk their coffee, the researchers repeated their measurements.
The figures below speak for themselves.
Conclusion
"Brown fat works in a different way to other fat in your body and produces heat by burning sugar and fat, often in response to cold", explains co-author Michael Symonds in a press release. [sciencedaily.com June 24, 2019] "Increasing its activity improves blood sugar control as well as improving blood lipid levels and the extra calories burnt help with weight loss. However, until now, no one has found an acceptable way to stimulate its activity in humans."
"This is the first study in humans to show that something like a cup of coffee can have a direct effect on our brown fat functions. The results were positive and we now need to ascertain that caffeine as one of the ingredients in the coffee is acting as the stimulus or if there's another component helping with the activation of brown fat. We are currently looking at caffeine supplements to test whether the effect is similar."
"Once we have confirmed which component is responsible for this, it could potentially be used as part of a weight management regime or as part of glucose regulation programme to help prevent diabetes."
"The potential implications of our results are pretty big, as obesity is a major health concern for society and we also have a growing diabetes epidemic and brown fat could potentially be part of the solution in tackling them.
Source: Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 24;9(1):9104.
