HOW EXERCISE PROMOTES FAT LOSS

Brown fat is a highly thermogenic tissue that converts energy to heat instead of storing it as fat. Exercise promotes fat breakdown and use by causing muscles to release a hormone called PGC1- alpha, which triggers a messenger called BAIBA (beta-aminoisobutyric acid) to increase caloric expenditure— according to a study from Harvard Medical School led by Lee Roberts and Robert  Gerszten. These newly discovered chemicals change white fat in the abdomen into brown fat, which promotes overall fat loss.

This study helps explain why intense exercise promotes fat loss, even though carbohydrates are the principal fuels during exercise  at intensities above 65 percent of maximum effort. Intense exercise  causes more PGC-1 and BAIBA production than moderate-intensity  exercise. In humans, higher BAIBA levels are linked to reduced metabolic risk factors.