Irisin: The Exercise Hormone You’ve Never Heard Of
While we all know that diet and exercise can help you with weight loss, often times as we get older, our body needs a little help to burn that extra fat during the exercise process. Luckily certain hormones can be triggered that can help the body work better at eliminating fat from the body and getting it down to a leaner, healthier shape.
What Is Irisin?
Irisin is an exercise-induced hormone that helps the body fight fat. Recent studies performed at the University of Florida have shown how this exercise triggering hormone can help rid your body of fat, showing the increased value of exercise to help lose weight. Irisin is referred to as an exercise hormone because it releases from the body during moderate aerobic endurance activity. Which simply means, it releases when you are doing exercise that provides exertion on your muscles and stimulates the cardiorespiratory system. The hormone works by activating genes and protein in the body that turn white fat cells into brown fat cells and continue to allow you to burn energy even after your exercise is finished. It also helps to inhibit the growth of fatty tissue.
White Fat vs. Brown Fat
To understand how Irisin really works, you must first understand the difference between white fat and brown fat.
Brown Fat
Brown fat is fat that is comprised of small lipids or fat droplets combined with many iron-containing mitochondria which act as the cell’s fuel engine. The blood vessels and iron content give the fat its brown appearance and is most often found around the neck and upper areas of the back. The job of brown fat is to burn calories that it turns into heat. This is why you will hear that brown fat is better than white fat, as it is used to burn calories instead of store them. Brown fat is generated through exercise and high-quality sleep.
White Fat
White fat is made up of a single lipid droplet with much fewer mitochondria and blood vessels which give it a white or yellow appearance. White fat is the most predominate and comes from connective tissue. White fat insulates the body, provides an energy reserve, and provides cushioning for the organs. Since it is a major endocrine organ, it regulates appetite, acts as an insulin receptor, and helps with the production of growth hormones, cortisol, and adrenaline. Excess white fat around the belly is linked to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
What Are the Potential Links to Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes?
Irisin is released by exercise and acts as a messenger to other body tissues. This includes the skeleton, heart, liver, fat tissue, and brain. Recent studies have been done to see how Irisin has the potential to help with the insulin resistance that comes with type 2 diabetes. It is believed that Irisin can help to stimulate the browning of white fatty tissue which will promote the glucose uptake to both the heart and the skeletal muscles. When this occurs, hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism will be improved as well as the function of the pancreas. While more studies must be completed, researchers state that Irisin may show promise for reducing insulin resistance and treating a number of metabolic diseases or related health issues such as obesity that can lead to type 2 diabetes as well.
How Can You Get Your Body to Produce More Irisin?
Since there are many benefits to the body when more Irisin is produced, you may find yourself asking how you can increase the production and release of this hormone. The good news is that there are multiple ways to increase Irisin in your body including:
Diet – High-fat diets can increase the amount of brain tissue your body has.
Exercise – To be released in the body, Irisin relies on muscle contraction and intense exercise. The higher the intensity, the more Irisin your body will produce. Endurance training will increase Irisin levels twice that of aerobic activity, and resistance exercise will produce more than endurance training. When you perform high-intensity interval training, Irisin level will increase after 6 hours for up to 13 hours post-exercise.
Cold and heat thermogenesis – Intense cold or heat for short periods of time can increase the release of Irisin in the body. This includes cold vests and hats, ice plunges, sweating, and sitting in a sauna.
Supplements -While there is possible future research geared to putting Irisin in the drug form, it is still in its infancy, and the truth is that nothing can replace the benefits of exercise. Even though there is no direct supplement made or Irisin, there are supplements like MetaGlycemX from Metagenics which can help promote healthy blood and help your body fight insulin resistance to aid in your weight loss and path to a healthier you.
Want to find out more on how supplements or a keto diet can help you increase the effectiveness of your new health routine contact Prime Wellness, a Metagenics product provider, today to choose from some health supplements and meal replacements that can help you get rid of stubborn fat while improving your body’s health systems.
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