Body fat is a critical component of optimal health because it is responsible for energy maintenance, hormone regulation, immune function, insulin signaling, nutrient absorption and other vital functions. However, excess body fat can lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cancers. Yet getting rid of body fat can sometimes feel impossible. So what's the best way to burn fat?

Gradual weight loss has been shown to be more successful, over the long term, than immediate weight loss from dieting. In this report, we define the types of body fat, explain how they are stored, and discuss six approachable habits for better body fat management that you can adopt and build upon every day. (It’s important to note that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding or individuals who are malnourished, immunocompromised or navigating a disease diagnosis should speak to their medical professional before attempting any form of weight loss.)

Types of body fat

There are three different types of fat cells in the body: brown, white, and beige — and they’re stored as essential, subcutaneous, or visceral fat. Each type of fat serves a different role, including regulating metabolism, body temperature and hormone levels.

Brown fat 

Small fat molecules full of mitochondria, brown fat contains large quantities of iron, giving it a darker hue. Brown fat is responsible, primarily, for regulating body temperature, burning calories and storing energy, and controlling blood sugar and insulin levels. 

Brown fat begins to burn calories right before you start to shiver because the fat activates in cold temperatures. It produces heat by breaking down blood glucose and molecules of fat, a process called thermogenesis. 

As infants, brown fat makes up 2-5% of total body weight. Throughout adolescence, the amount of brown fat reduces and spreads throughout the body. In adults, brown fat is primarily found in the neck, kidneys, heart, chest and adrenal glands. 

Leaner individuals, such as athletes, have more brown fat in their body than others. Therefore, it’s not surprising that in fact the best ways to increase the amount of brown fat in your body are by upping your daily exercise and movement regimen and consuming a more nutrient-dense, well-balanced diet. Studies suggest that exercise activates your body’s blood hormone, irisin, which signals to the white fat in your body to burn like brown fat: this process creates “beige fat.” Also, if deemed necessary by your medical provider, adding more iron to your diet may be advisable to ensure brown fat cells have enough of this important mineral. Lastly, while some studies suggest that turning down the thermostat or taking a cold shower or an ice bath could activate brown fat to help your body produce more of it (to burn more calories), those practices have not been proven in large-scale, controlled clinical trials.

White fat

Most of the fat in your body is white fat, which stores the energy (adipose tissue) throughout your body. White fat insulates your organs and is essential for managing hormone levels (including insulin, leptin, estrogen, growth hormones, and cortisol). Too much white fat can lead to weight gain and accompanying health issues. Stubborn excess fat in the arms, hips, belly, thighs, and glutes is a sign of higher white fat levels. 

Strength training exercises to build muscle tissue can help reduce white fat.

Beige fat

When white fat begins transforming into brown fat, a process that occurs when the body is exposed to certain types of stress, beige fat is formed. One of the key “stressors” that initiates this process is exercise, which produces the hormone irisin. It is believed that the exercise should be vigorous and challenging to produce enough irisin to form beige fat. However, research into this type of fat is relatively new and preliminary, and the role of beige fat in weight loss is uncertain. 

Essential fat

Essential fat isn’t highly visible but is found throughout the body — especially in the brain, bone marrow, membranes around the organs, and nerves. Essential fat is required for a healthy functioning body, playing a major role in regulating hormones, vitamin absorption, and temperature regulation.

Subcutaneous fat

A combination of white, brown and beige fat located just under the skin, subcutaneous fat accounts for about 90% of all body fat and is your body’s vehicle for storing energy for later use. Often seen as the fat found around the gut in men or that stubborn thigh fat in women, subcutaneous fat plays a major role in estrogen production and regulation — which is why females tend to have higher levels of subcutaneous fat than men. Subcutaneous fat also protects muscle and skin tissue. Too much subcutaneous fat can lead to negative health outcomes associated with obesity and hormone imbalances.

Visceral fat

Found in the abdominal area between the organs, visceral fat can be dangerous at high levels. Visceral fat produces a protein that causes insulin resistance, a causative factor in the onset of type 2 diabetes. Higher levels of visceral fat are also linked to colon and breast cancers, dementia, heart disease, and stroke. 

Visceral fat typically increases with age. The best way to manage it is through a healthy diet, good sleep hygiene, and regular exercise. 

Six habits that help get rid of body fat

1. Drink more water. Drinking half your weight in ounces of water per day keeps you fuller for longer, helps with your sleep and maintains energy levels. Research also shows that hydration helps with fat breakdown and slows new fat production.
   
2. Get moving every hour. Did you know that the majority of the calories you burn every day come from “non-exercise daily activities” rather than actual exercising? Research suggests that non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) — the calories you burn through normal tasks — can play a major role in obesity prevention: so take the stairs, play an instrument, or go for a short walk.
   
3. Strength train. Strength training is one of the best way to burn fat, and research consistently shows that the most significant and immediate fat reduction occurs when healthy eating is combined with strength training — because having more lean muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate (RMR), the number of calories your body burns at rest to sustain function. Put simply, muscles help burn calories and ultimately help stave off the production of body fat. Strength training, often thought to be synonymous with weightlifting, is actually a variety of exercises involving the production of force against any kind of external resistance, such as your own body weight (with gravity), elastic resistance bands, even water. Examples include yoga, pilates, swimming, and high intensity interval training (HIIT) — as well as exercises using weights and other devices. Learn more: Is strength training beneficial for metabolic health?
   
4. Eat a diverse and healthy diet. Reducing your intake of non-nutritive, high-sugar foods is the easiest way to cut calories. Replace the added sugars from drinks and processed foods with lower-sugar options, healthy fats and more water. Focus on substituting high-quality proteins — which promote satiety, build and maintain muscle mass, and decrease hunger; and nutrient-dense, high-fiber carbohydrates (such as whole grains and non-starchy vegetables) — which also keep you full longer, and in addition improve nutrient absorption and help reduce body fat through the production of the fatty acid butyrate.
   
5. Get your heart rate up daily. In addition to moving more throughout the day, aerobic workouts are important for getting rid of body fat. Good for heart health, blood pressure, and burning calories, increasing your heart rate for 30-40 minutes per day also helps transform white fat into brown fat. This can include fast walking, cycling, chasing your kids around, or swimming. HIIT workouts are another great way to get in your cardio while building muscle mass.
   
6. Get a good night’s rest. Research indicates that adults who get insufficient sleep are more likely to develop obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression. Getting enough sleep (so you feel well rested in the morning — ideally seven hours for adults) is an essential part of losing weight and building muscle mass. Sleeping helps maintain metabolic health: while we sleep, our bodies regulate our hunger hormones, whereas if we’re sleep-deprived, levels of cortisol rise — which can cause stress that leads to weight gain, especially in the abdominal area. Furthermore, during sleep our bodies recover and are repaired from exercise so that we are better prepared to resume physical activity when we next wake. 

Key takeaways

Body fat is a key component of optimal health, but too much of it can be dangerous. The unhealthy stubborn body fat stored as visceral or subcutaneous fat can be decreased through a few key activities: hydrating throughout the day, moving more to avoid sitting for long periods, focusing on building muscle, eating a nutrient-dense diet, increasing your heart rate and sleeping for 7 hours per night. Adopting these habits and practicing them even just gradually can, over time, begin to burn fat and improve your cardiometabolic metrics.

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