Singapore Bioimaging Consortium

Our body fat (adipose tissue) is largely made up of white adipose tissue (WAT) that stores surplus energy as white fat depots. In addition, adult humans have another type of fat similar to the brown fat in babies that burns up fat to generate heat for maintenance of body temperature during cold exposure. Adults have much lesser amounts of such brown adipose tissue (BAT), most of which are located within the sides of the neck and under the skin above the collar bones as well as along the sides of the spine. BAT consists of both classical brown fat identical to that found in babies as well as beige fat (composed of brown-in-white or 'brite' fat cells) found mainly in adults. Both types of BAT burn fat upon activation by various stimuli such as cold or by substances like curcumin found in turmeric ginger rhizome root.
This study is carried out to find out the effects of cold stimulation and/or a known BAT-activating nutraceutical among those overweight/obese people suffering from metabolic syndrome.