I've just gone down a fascinating rabbit hole (as one does)!
In The Vengeance of An, a character mentions that someone else habitually chews on bitter herbs, because people in the North do that to stay warm.
So I looked it up (of course!) and there’s growing evidence that some bitter compounds can stimulate thermogenesis, the process by which your body generates heat and burns calories. This is so cool! 1/n
🪤 Cutting key amino acids from mouse diets triggers weight loss through heat burning
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-key-amino-acids-mouse-diets.html
#diet #weightloss #thermogenesis #biology #mice #aminoacids #bat #brownfat
It's not pleasant to shiver from the cold, but for some, it has the appeal of making the body burn more energy as heat than when staying in a warmer environment. According to several studies, exposure to cold is a reliable way to boost energy expenditure in mice and humans. This process of burning energy through heat loss is called thermogenesis.
Through a series of experiments in mice, the team discovered that changing the amount of these amino acids in the animals’ diet produced effects comparable to continuous cold exposure at five degrees Celsius.
Scientists Discover a Diet That Burns Fat Like Cold Exposure, Leading to Significant Weight Loss
By tweaking just two amino acids in the diet, researchers found a way to mimic the fat-burning effects of cold exposure.
Their work centered on two amino acids, methionine and cysteine.
By tweaking just two amino acids in the diet, researchers found a way to mimic the fat-burning effects of cold exposure. Shivering in the cold is hardly enjoyable, yet for some people, it carries an appealing side effect—the body uses more energy to stay warm than it does in comfortable temperature
Mouse studies confirm that diets low in the sulfur-containing amino acids methionine and cysteine increase thermogenesis in beige fat by as much as 20 percent, mimicking the effect of cold exposure.
Original paper: https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/108825v1
By tweaking just two amino acids in the diet, researchers found a way to mimic the fat-burning effects of cold exposure. Shivering in the cold is hardly enjoyable, yet for some people, it carries an appealing side effect—the body uses more energy to stay warm than it does in comfortable temperature
Thermogenesis means your body burns extra calories even at rest. Cut and Ripped’s natural formula helps your metabolism work harder. Details in bio: https://alphalifesupplements.com/products/cut-and-ripped
[thermogenesis, fat burner, metabolism]
A New Obesity Pill May Burn Fat Without Suppressing Appetite
Plant thermogenesis has played key role in attracting pollinating #insects for at least 200 million years https://phys.org/news/2024-09-thermogenesis-played-key-role-pollinating.html
The impact of #thermogenesis on the origin of #insect #pollination https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-024-01775-z
"This metabolic process allows certain parts of the plant, such as flowers and inflorescences, to raise their temperature above that of the surrounding environment... The heat helps volatilize and disperse floral fragrances and other compounds that attract insects"
Thermogenesis is a process by which organisms generate internal heat. Although it is usually associated with animals, some plants have also developed this ability. This metabolic process allows certain parts of the plant, such as flowers and inflorescences, to raise their temperature above that of the surrounding environment.
This research advances microbiology by shifting the paradigm of metabolic heat generation. We identified heat regulators and demonstrated a correlation between ATP concentrations and a microbial cell’s ability to generate excess heat for the first time.
Shaula Evans
Paul Houle
earthling
RDN
Alpha Life Supplements
WIRED - The Latest in Technology, Science, Culture and Business
Lukas VFN 🇪🇺
Matt Willemsen
PLOS Biology