Brown Fat, Brown Adipose Tissue: What It Is & What It Means

What is brown fat?

Brown fat, also called brown adipose tissue, is a type of body fat that keeps you warm when you get cold. Brown fat also stores energy and helps your body burn calories. Brown fat starts working (activates) in cold temperatures.

What are the types of fat in my body?

There are different types of fat in your body. Healthcare providers identify each type of fat by its color and function, including:

• White fat: Most of the fat in your body is white fat. White fat stores energy in various places around your body. White fat insulates your organs. Too much white fat leads to obesity.
• Brown fat: Brown fat is smaller than white fat. It stores energy and burns that energy to regulate your body temperature. Brown fat helps you burn calories by creating heat right before your body starts to shiver (thermogenesis). It also helps regulate sugar (glucose) and fat metabolism.
• Beige fat: Beige fat is a combination of white and brown fat cells. These cells burn calories to regulate body temperature by converting white fat cells to brown.