Brown Fat: Vital Human Organ?

Steve: Many of you would be surprised to know that brown adipose tissue, or simply brown fat, plays a key role in endocrine function. While white fat is relatively benign, it is brown fat that has the ability to signal other processes in the body to act in a positive or negative fashion. When brown fat cells become too numerous -- creating an overweight or obese state -- endocrine function suffers. Researchers have been zeroing in on brown fat's integral role in regulating cholesterol, glucose metabolism, and aging. 

The main culprit in accumulating more brown fat than is necessary? Simply overfeeding. 

Our bodies still utilize genetic information from generations past when we had to house excess calories to stave off starvation. We certainly do not require this feature in the modern world, but our genes do not know that. Hence, the way we house extra calories is to turn them into brown fat cells. The more fat cells we produce, the more weight we gain. The more weight we gain, the more dangerous we allow this organ to function adversely.

In this case of the vital organ brown fat, the philosophy of "eat to live," not "live to eat," is paramount.