In two groundbreaking experiments, the Cool Fat Burner & Gut Buster were shown to maintain massive levels of “brown fat” in an adult male through the summer months, and to activate brown fat, and keep it activated for hours after removing the vests, all confirmed via PET scans.  This could have huge implications for weight loss and general metabolic health.

At a glance: High intensity cold thermogenesis activates brown fat Brown fat stays active for over an hour after removing the Cool Fat Burner The Cool Fat Burner allows one to maintain maximal brown fat stores, even after 6 months of hot summer weather!  The next step is to expand this into a group study

 

Brown Fat, or brown adipose tissue (BAT) is the big new thing in health and weight loss.  Everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon.
The Cool Fat Burner is the first commercial cold thermogenesis ice vest to show under controlled clinical conditions — two separate PET scan experiments — that it can activate brown fat, and keep it active for hours after removing the vest.

• In this experiment, the CFB also demonstrates it can activate brown fat after only ~ 1 hour of use.
• And that it can activate brown fat from  “Hardcore” or High intensity  cold thermogenesis (ie, interval shivering).
• And keep brown fat active for over  ~ 1 hour after the session ends!

All three of these are more or less new, first-time findings, and have huge implications for the Cool Fat Burner and cold thermogenesis, as well as the role of brown fat in health and weight loss.

 

Brown Fat:

— most mammals have brown fat (BAT), to keep them warm and to survive during hibernation
— burns regular “white fat”  in order to generate heat  (white fat = white adipose tissue = regular fat on stomach, hips, legs, cellulite)
— embryologically related to muscle tissue
— high number of mitochondria & vascular supply (gives brown color)
— abundant in human babies; BAT decreases as humans age
— women tend to have more BAT than men
— accumulates near major vessels of the trunk, so as to directly warm blood
— increases in amounts when one is consistently exposed to cold  (example:  outside seasonal workers develop more BAT over winter months)
— our ancestors probably had much more BAT (and were thus leaner) as they did not have constant indoor heating

So brown fat burns regular fat to generate heat when one is exposed to cold, and if one is consistently exposed to cold, they build up more BAT, thus increasing its calorie-burning potential.  This is why brown fat is being researched as a treatment for obesity and the related metabolic disorders.  BAT also increases uptake of blood glucose, and is being investigated to help treat diabetes.  (UPDATE:  At the time of this experiment, a group study was being set up at Mount Sinai hospital, to test the CFB’s effects on blood glucose levels.)

The primary method of testing for BAT is with PET scans.

 

 

The Experiment:

The experiment involves 2 PET scans, a “Before” and “After” approach, to confirm brown fat activation. 

“Before”  — sit in normal 70’F room for ~ 1hour — receive FDG radioactive tracer injection — continue to sit in 70’F room ~ 1 hour while tracer absorbs — get the “Before” PET scan; expect negative BAT activity	“After”  — wear the Cool Fat Burner ~ 1hour, at “Hardcore” (shivering level) intensity — remove Cool Fat Burner — receive FDG radioactive tracer injection — continue to sit in 70’F room ~ 1 hour while tracer absorbs — get the “After” PET scan; expect positive BAT activity

 

 

Results:

As you can see in the pics, there was significant brown fat activity in the “After” scans.

There is noticable BAT activation around the neck and collar bones, the shoulder blades, all the way down the vertebrae, around the ribs, and down around the kidneys.   (Note:  there is actually more BAT active than one can see in these two PET images, as they are merely “thin slice” cross-sections on a single plane.)

 

 

Discussion:

This experiment seems to confirm several claims of the Cool Fat Burner:

1.  that the Cool Fat Burner cooling vest can in fact activate brown fat
2.  that it only took ~1 hour of CFB use to activate brown adipose tissue  (around 1hr 10 minutes)
3.  that shivering does not turn off brown fat
4.  that BAT continued to be active for over an hour after removing the ice vest  (exactly 1hr 20 minutes)
5.  that large amounts of BAT can be metabolically active in someone as old as 40 years of age

It seems evident that consistent use of the Cool Fat Burner can increase the total amount of one’s brown fat stores.  It’s been shown in numerous studies that one can increase the amount of brown fat one has by spending several hours a day in a 60’F room. 1  It’s also likely that the CFB can activate BAT in far less than 1 hour. 

It’s also noteworthy that shivering does not deactivate BAT, considering many supposed “authorities” in the field — research scientists, bloggers, etc — have claimed that it would.  (it’s ironic that many of these newfound experts don’t actually engage in cold thermogenesis themselves, yet give opinions and advise on it)  We’ve already seen that interval shivering (“Shiver Surfing”) can triple metabolism as verified by indirect calorimety.  And shivering probably elicits the highest release of adiponectin from fat cells.  It’s recently been shown that shivering increases levels of the hormone irisin at a rate 4-5X faster than exercise.  Irisin is involved in the “browning” of white fat; causing regular white fat to function somewhat like brown fat (in that it will burn some energy to create heat during cold stress).  Cool Fat Burner users have reported increased strength and muscle gains — irisin (along with adiponectin) may be at work.  Irisin also may even be involved in longevity.

Using the Cool Fat Burner can burn calories at different rates, depending on the intensity level.     Intensity Level                Sensations                                               Mechanism — Beginner / Casual     – feeling lightly cooled off                         – autonomic nervous system — Moderate                   – chilled, up to goosebumps                    – skeletal muscle uncoupling & BAT activation — High intensity             – pre-shivering, through shivering            – muscular shivering, adiponectin release In the indirect calorimetry experiment, we saw that the CFB can increase calorie burn at a modest rate even at “Casual” intensity, and at an impressive triple metabolic rate at “Hardcore” intensity.  This current experiment, the activation of BAT, fills in the “Moderate” intensity level.

So how many calories does brown fat burn?

The exact amount of calories probably varies from person to person depending on many factors, including how much total brown fat they have.  The PET images of Eric G. for example, reveal a significant amount of brown fat, no doubt built up from consistent CFB use.

Also an important factor:  how long does brown fat stay active after a Cool Fat Burner session?

User feedback imples that Cool Fat Burner use can elicit increased sensations of heat that often last for hours and hours after the CFB session has ended.  In the video, Eric G. mentions frequent post-session heat sensations that can last well over 8 hours later.  Assuming the sensations of heat correspond to BAT activation, this would seem to be confirmed by this experiment in that the PET scans showed active brown fat, even though Eric G. removed the CFB 1 hr 20 minutes before taking the “After” scan.  And that 1hr 20 min was spent sitting in a 70’F room, and wearing clothes.  (Advice is given to CFB users to sit in a cool room after their sessions end.  Even a moderately cool room, otherwise not normally cold enough to initially activate BAT, for example a 65’F room, might allow for an even longer extended post-CFB-session BAT activation.  In other words, even if a cool room won’t initially activate BAT… it may be enough to help keep it activated, once the Cool Fat Burner has first turned it on.)

A related point in regards to “how long?” BAT stays active and relevant to total calorie burn numbers:  an interesting study showed that “constitutionally lean” women have active brown fat, even at room temperature.  Women who are constitutionally lean… have active BAT, 24/7.  Just a coincidence?  Unlikely.

These two findings imply that brown fat can stay active for hours a day, and can add up to significant amounts of calorie burn and real world weight loss.

*** the Cool Fat Burner & Cool Gut Buster device and website is not designed to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease or disorder.
Please consult with your physician before using it in any such capacity.  Results may vary.