The Cure for Obesity: Fat?

The Cure for Obesity: Fat? | BU Today | Boston University: It turns out that all fat is not created equal. Brown fat, named for its color and found in small amounts in strange places like our backs and necks, burns calories instead of warehousing them. Until three years ago, no one even knew adults had brown fat. Researchers had found it in rodents and human babies, both of whom cannot shiver (which burns calories) and therefore need brown fat as a heat-maker to stay warm. Then they studied scans of adults in cold rooms and voilà—grownups had brown fat, too.