Fat cells

Researchers have discovered a new type of tissue, a soft and flexible ‘fatty cartilage’ that could revolutionize the treatment of traumatic injuries, birth defects, and cartilage-damaging diseases like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Most people know that body fat stored around the midsection can spell disaster for cardiovascular health. But Harvard researchers have now discovered another problematic fat-storage location in the body that's been largely overlooked.

In the first study of its kind, excess abdominal fat has been associated with chronic pain, but the good news is that losing weight that can reduce waistlines could help relieve widespread musculoskeletal conditions and greatly improve quality of life.

We’ve all spent time and effort on pointless tasks so we look busy when the boss walks past. But now scientists have discovered a new type of fat cell in the body that does the same thing, burning energy and producing heat with pointless busywork.

While there has been a general consensus that olive oil and other plant-based fats are better for you than butter, scientists have now put it beyond doubt, combining diet-intervention and previous cohort research to assess serious disease risk.

By suppressing one protein, stores of white fat can switch to calorie-burning beige fat, in a feat that so far has eluded scientists working in this field. This means long-lasting weight loss without the brain-gut side effects of existing obesity drugs.

It may not be to everyone's taste, but kombucha tea may be able to deliver the benefits of fasting, without the hardest part – the fasting. Its yeast and bacteria altered fat metabolism, without any other dietary changes, resulting in lower fat stores.

In a major breakthrough, scientists have identified a key protein involved in producing brown fat, and found it can even help form these cells in 'bad' white fat. This now opens the door to new weight-loss treatments that have long eluded researchers.

Slowing down the dreaded aging process interests everybody, and now scientists have uncovered a new pathway to doing so. The team identified a feedback loop in the brain, and found that ramping up its activity helped mice live longer and healthier.

If you overindulge in sugary treats, the good news is that your sweet tooth will be silenced. The bad news, though, is that this triggers a hormonal call out for fatty foods. And even worse news, too much fat will then switch sugar cravings back on.

While we try to not live in the past, our biology often has other ideas. Adding to a growing body of evidence, researchers have found that men who carried around extra pounds in their youth are at a much higher risk of developing 17 types of cancers.

Finding the molecular key to turn fat tissue from white to brown has huge potential for weight loss, yet the cellular code has been a hard one to crack. Scientists are now one step closer, finding a way in to manipulate the tricky white fat cells.