Obesity rates in the U.S. and worldwide are skyrocketing. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 1/3 of adults and at least 12.5 million children are now clinically obese. Along with obesity rates, Type 2 diabetes is also soaring. No surprise there, considering that over 80% of people with Type 2 diabetes are obese.
Similarly, it’s far from shocking that the benefits of exercise is one of the most beneficial ways to control weight. However, what is surprising and encouraging is that the benefits of exercise generates a hormone called irisin that can help you…
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• Eliminate “bad” fat cells
• Increase “good” fat cells
• Lose weight
• Prevent and even reverse Type 2 diabetes
“Good” Fat vs. “Bad” Fat
Not all fat in our bodies is created equal. Some of you may have heard of “brown fat” by now. Brown fat differs from the ordinary white fat cells that we think of as “bad.” White fat cells store fat, helping you pack on the pounds. But brown fat cells actually burn fat.
“If your goal is to lose weight,” writes Dr. Anthony Komaroff in the Harvard Health Letter, “you want to increase the number of brown fat cells and decrease white fat cells.”
Irisin Hormone Turns Bad Fat into Good Fat
Dr. Bruce Spiegelman, professor of cell biology and medicine at Harvard Medical School, has shown how irisin (in mice) can transform white fat cells into brown ones. His team is currently investigating how the same process plays out in humans.
The more brown fat cells your body has, the more energy you burn during exercise—and after! Brown fats cells keep burning fat even after you’ve stepped off the treadmill.
And irisin not only helps you burn calories, it also helps prevent and overcome insulin resistance, which leads to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
Big Pharma companies are already scheming to turn irisin into weight loss and type 2 diabetes drugs. But as Heidi Godman, executive editor of the Harvard Health Letter, points out, “you can make your own irisin today, for free, by exercising.” So what are you waiting for? Why not have the ideal body you always dreamed of and be diabetes free?!