What's the difference between white fat cells & brown fat cells?ii

White fat is found in adults, and brown fat is found in infants. (This theory is obsolete now, in the April publication of the New England Journal of Medicine, not one, but THREE independent labs proved the existence of brown fat in adults)

Differences between brown fat and white fat are:

a) Brown fat deposits around vital internal organs and along back and sternum. While white fat is found under skin.

b) Brown fat cells have mitochondria, hence it is metabolically active. While white fat is not.

c) Brown fat can generate ATP hence it can generate heat. White fat can`t.

*note white fat cannot generate heat but it does insulate the body which helps to keep the body temperature at a steady level

The brown fat cells specialized in the production of heat, burns fats and sugars.

The brown fat cells, specialized in the production of heat, burns energy (calories) coming from other stored fat¹. 

Until recently, it was considered that; ito keep their body heat, the human being shivers while animals hibernate and use their brown fat as source of heat. The present study showed that brown fat also produced heat for the human being without stimulating shivering, in a condoled intense cold. Recent studies had shown the presence of brown fat in the area of the neck in the adults. This fat is also present in the back of new-born until the one year age.

The researchers André Carpentier of the University Of Sherbrooke and Denis Richard Of Laval University, with their team, measured energy consumption, of glucose and blood fats by brown grease at six men during a controlled cold exposure, limiting shivering to the maximum.

The participants presented an increase in their consumption of glucose and blood fats. The more the activity of brown grease increased, the less they were carried to shiver. The radiological observations of the composition of brown grease also show a consumption of grease already stored within this tissue. Brown fat thus acts like a source of heating consumption additional during the cold exposure. This energy expense can contribute to make weight lost.
 

i Canadian study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

ii April publication of the New England Journal of Medicine

Healthy Choices: Health benefits of dates

• Wonderfully delicious, dates are one of the most popular fruits packed with an impressive list of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are required for normal growth, development and overall well-being.

• Fresh dates compose of soft, easily digestible flesh and simple sugars like fructose and dextrose. When eaten, they replenish energy and revitalize the body instantly. For these qualities, they are being used to break the fast during Ramadan month since ancient times.

• The fruit is rich in dietary fiber, which prevents LDL cholesterol absorption in the gut. Additionally, the fiber works as a bulk laxative. It, thus, helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time and as well as binding to cancer-causing chemicals in the colon.

• They contain health benefiting flavonoid polyphenolic antioxidants known as tannins. Tannins are known to possess anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic (prevent easy bleeding tendencies) properties.

• They are moderate sources of vitamin-A (contains 149 IU per 100 g), which is known to have antioxidant properties and essential for vision. Additionally, it is also required maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin A is known to help to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.

• They compose antioxidant flavonoids such as ß-carotene, lutein, and zea-xanthin. These antioxidants found to have the ability to protect cells and other structures in the body from harmful effects of oxygen-free radicals. Thus, eating dates found to offer some protection from colon, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic cancers. 

• Zea-xanthin is an important dietary carotenoid that selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea, where it thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions. It thus offers protection against age-related macular degeneration, especially in elderly populations.

• Dates are an excellent source of iron, contains 0.90 mg/100 g of fruits (about 11% of RDI). Iron, being a component of hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, determines the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

• Further, they are very good in potassium. 100 g contains 696 mg or 16% of daily-recommended levels of this electrolyte. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that help controlling heart rate and blood pressure. They, thus, offers protection against stroke and coronary heart diseases.

• They are also rich in minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. Calcium is an important mineral that is an essential constituent of bone and teeth, and required by the body for muscle contraction, blood clotting, and nerve impulse conduction. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Copper is required for the production of red blood cells. Magnesium is essential for bone growth.

• Further, the fruit has adequate levels of B-complex group of vitamins as well as vitamin K. It contains very good amounts of pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), niacin, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin. These vitamins are acting as cofactors help body metabolize carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Vitamin K is essential for many coagulant factors in the blood as well as in bone metabolism.
  
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  Astrid

Optimal Magnesium and the Reduction of Diabetes Risks

Magnesium, like calcium and other commonly known minerals, is often considered to be commonplace in our diet today.  Most people think, “lot’s of foods have calcium and magnesium,…..milk, cheese, and uh, milk and cheese.”  The reality, as supported by a good deal of research (NHANES III), is that most of us do not consume enough magnesium each day and it can have a significant impact on the risk factors for Diabetes.

Dietary sources of magnesium actually include green, leafy vegetables, meats, starches, grains and nuts, and milk.  Several dietary surveys show that a large portion of adults do not meet the RDA for magnesium (320 mg per day for women and 420 mg per day for men).

In a study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism researchers report that magnesium supplementation improves sensitivity to insulin in overweight people.  Insulin resistance occurs when insufficient insulin is released to produce a normal glucose response from fat, muscle and liver cells or when those same cells become unresponsive due to excess circulating insulin levels.

Supplements of magnesium for six months improved two out of three measures of insulin sensitivity, compared with placebo, while blood sugar levels, measured as fasting levels of glucose in the blood, improved by about 7 percent, report the researchers.

Diabetes affects an estimated 24 million Americans, equal to 8 percent of the population. The total costs are thought to be as much as $174 billion, with $116 billion being direct costs from medication, according to 2005-2007 American Diabetes Association figures.

For more information on the link between nutrition, diabetes and obesity, please go towww.healthiswealth.net.

The DIRT on CLEANERS!!!

EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning reviews and rates more than 2,000 popular household cleaning products with grades A through F, based on the safety of their ingredients and the information they disclose about their contents.

In the making for more than a year, EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning, the only one of its kind, has found that hazardous industrial chemicals lurk in far too many bottles and boxes under Americans’ sinks and on laundry room shelves.
Just seven percent of cleaning products adequately disclosed their contents. To uncover what are in common household cleaners, EWG’s staff scientists spent 14 months reading product labels and digging through company websites and technical documents. We researched ingredients and contaminants in 15 government, industry and academic toxicity databases and numerous scientific and medical journals.

With EWG’s help, consumers can shop smart – and also change the marketplace by pressing the cleaning industry to come up with safer formulations and to label ingredients clearly and completely.
EWG’s key scientific findings:

• Some 53 percent of cleaning products assessed by EWG contain ingredients known to harm the lungs. About 22 percent contain chemicals reported to cause asthma to develop in otherwise healthy individuals.
• Formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen, is sometimes used as a preservative or may be released by other preservatives in cleaning products. It may form when terpenes, found in citrus and pine oil cleaners and in some essential oils used as scents, react with ozone in the air.
• The chemical 1,4-dioxane, a suspected human carcinogen, is a common contaminant of widely-used detergent chemicals.
• Chloroform, a suspected human carcinogen, sometimes escapes in fumes released by products containing chlorine bleach.
• Quaternary ammonium compounds (“quats”) like benzalkonium chloride, found in antibacterial spray cleaners and fabric softeners, can cause asthma.
• Sodium borate, also known as borax, and boric acid are added to many products as cleaning agents, enzyme stabilizers or for other functions. They can disrupt the hormone system.
• Many leading “green” brands sell superior products, among them Green Shield Organic and Whole Foods’ Green Mission brand. But not all cleaners marketed as environmentally conscious score high. Some “green” brands, including Earth Friendly Products, and BabyGanics, do not disclose ingredients adequately.

EWG recommends avoiding some products altogether because they’re unnecessary or there are no safer alternatives. Among them:

• Air fresheners contain secret fragrance mixtures that can trigger allergies and asthma. Open windows or use fans.
• Antibacterial products can spur development of drug-resistant superbugs.

Are you using safely your cleaning products?

• Fabric softener and dryer sheet ingredients can cause allergies or asthma and can irritate the lungs. Try a little vinegar in the rinse cycle.
• Caustic drain cleaners and oven cleaners can burn eyes and skin. Use a drain snake or plunger in drains. Try a do-it-yourself paste of baking soda and water in the oven.

“Natural” doesn’t mean non-toxic
Though plant-based ingredients don’t use petrochemicals, some plant-derived substances
can cause allergic reactions. Some chemicals used in “green” product lines have not been
thoroughly tested and get Cs for lack of safety data.
The scarcity of solid data about risks associated with cleaning product contents underscores
the need for reform of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, to require safety
testing of chemicals on the market.

Consumers have a right to know
Ingredient labels are mandatory for food, cosmetics and drugs – but not for cleaning
products. Manufacturers aren’t required to disclose all ingredients in their cleaners and
many don’t, including some “green” cleaners makers.
EWG urges consumers to tell manufacturers and legislators they want these products
labeled with a complete list of ingredients, including individual chemicals in fragrance and
any impurities present. Publishing ingredient information on the web or requiring
consumers to telephone the company is not good enough.

Source:
Ken Cook
President, Environmental Working Group