Brown fat, also called brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a special type of body fat that is turned on (activated) when you get cold. Brown fat produces heat to help maintain your body temperature in cold conditions.

Brown fat contains many more mitochondria than does white fat. These mitochondria are the "engines" in brown fat that burn calories to produce heat.

Brown fat has generated interest among researchers because it appears to be able to use regular body fat as fuel. In addition, exercise may stimulate hormones that activate brown fat.

Brown fat stem cells are derived from human brown fat tissue. When we are young we have a lot of brown fat tissue but as we age we tend to lose the brown fat.  Brown adipose tissue function declines during aging and may contribute to the onset of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity. 

This graph shows the decline in brown fat as we age:

Brown fat is stored differently by the human body.  This CT scan shows the location of brown fat deposits in the human body.

Brown fat tissue burns calories to generate heat.  Brown fat contains more mitochondria than white fat causing the tissue to be brown. When the brown fat burns calories sit causes the following:

• Creates heats through thermogenesis
• Metabolizes white fat
• Reduces glucose and lipid levels 
• Regulates homeostasis- balances metabolism

• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Obesity
• Arthritis
• Metabolic Disorders