Back in 2012, Harvard researchers discovered a hormone that can do amazing things for your metabolism and your health. It’s called irisin, and it can help you stay slim, young and disease-free…if you know how to harness its power.
Now, there are a few easy ways to use this hormone for your benefit. But first you need to know why it’s so great…
When you’re body releases irisin, it turns on genes in your body that transform white fat into brown fat. If you know anything about brown fat, you know that it’s healthy fat that causes your body to burn calories like nobody’s business. That’s why it’s been linked to quick and easy weight loss. Irisin is also said to prevent diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis and cancer.
Of course, not everyone buys the hype when it comes to irisin. A 2015 study published in Scientific Reports suggested that the benefits of irisin were more myth than fact. But the scientists who originally discovered this wonder hormone studied it again and proved that irisin really is all it’s cracked up to be.
Now the latest study on irisin shows that this health-boosting hormone can provide you with one more amazing fat-burning benefit…
Researchers from the University of Florida found that irisin actually stops the development of fatty tissue. More specifically, irisin stops your body from turning undifferentiated stem cells into fat cells and encourages stem cells to become bone-forming cells. I’d say that’s win-win for your body — less fat and stronger bones.
Now, it’s no secret that the best way to boost irisin levels in your body is through exercise. But some types are more effective than others. And then, of course, there’s one way to produce irisin that doesn’t involve any exercise at all. Here are three scientifically proven ways to get more irisin pumping through your body:
- High-intensity exercise. Exercise is the best way to boost irisin levels in your body. But not just any exercise will do. In 2014, a study published in the Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine found that high-intensity exercise increases irisin levels more than low-intensity exercise. Examples of high-intensity exercise include running, high-intensity interval training and cycling.
- Earlier this year, researchers found that rats fed a high-fat diet who swam daily lost weight. Why? Researchers suspect it’s due to irisin.
- Even if you’re not into breaking a sweat or going for a swim, you can still encourage your body to produce more irisin. All you have to do is shiver. In 2014, researchers found that people exposed to cold temperatures experienced an increase in irisin that rivaled that of people who exercised. And it’s all because they shivered. Researchers also found that the more intensely people shivered, the more irisin their body produced. So you may want to turn the thermostat down to stay slim this winter season.
Sources:
“Exercise hormone sheds fat, ‘helps people stay slender.” Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
Albrecht, et al. “Irisin – a myth rather than an exercise-inducible myokine.” Scientific Reports, 2015.
“’Exercise Hormone’ Irisin Really Does Exist.” Live Science. http://www.livescience.com. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
Tsuchiya, et al. “High-intensity exercise causes greater irisin response compared with low-intensity exercise under similar energy consumption.” Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2014;233(2):135-40.
Lu, et al. “Swimming exercise increases serum irisin level and reduces body fat mass in high-fat-diet fed Wistar rats.” Lipids in Health and Disease, 2016; 15: 93.
“Shivering Triggers Brown Fat to Produce Heat and Burn Calories.” National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
