Life Fit Chat with Laura Lewis: Melt Off The Fat

Life Fit Chat with That's Fit Life Fit Expert Laura Lewis brings conversation provoking tidbits to your table, served up with a touch of spice! Byte-sized information that pack some punch, brought to you every Wednesday and Thursday!

Did you know there is actually a good kind of body fat? It is called brown adipose tissue or BAT. BAT utilizes energy -- calories -- to burn fat in the body. BAT utilizes white adipose tissue as its energy source ... white fat is the icky fat we want to lose. Thermogenesis is the process of dozens of biochemical and metabolic events which generate heat in the body. Thermogenesis happens naturally in the following situations:

1. Hibernating Animals. During hibernation, animals are able to remain warm through the process of thermogenesis.
2. Cold Adaptation. Cold-activated thermogenesis can keep people in cold climates warm. You may notice that people who live in colder climates are more acclimated to the cold than people who live in warmer clients. They have "adapted" to the cold.
3. Eating. Thermogenesis also occurs after consuming food; however, the process is mostly generated by the calories in the food consumed rather than from the white fat.
4. Small Children. Children naturally have more BAT than adults; as we age, we begin to lose our BAT.

So, if we have BAT as children but lose it as adults, how do we develop the capacity for thermogenesis. There are products on the market that will activate as much BAT as possible, and possible even reactive BAT that has gone dormant. But, a natural and easy way to do this is through the consumption of thermogenetic foods.

Thermogenetic Foods

• Cayenne Pepper
• Salsa
• Hot Peppers
• Ice Water