Largest study of its kind links active brown fat to lower rates of type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety

16 October 2026

A study of more than 100,000 people, described as the largest of its kind, has linked active brown fat to a range of health benefits.
People with active brown fat were less affected by type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety than people without it.
The researchers used an artificial-intelligence model to measure active brown fat from medical scans, which use positron emission tomography and computed tomography with a radioactive glucose tracer that highlights tissue actively taking up glucose.
Brown fat burns calories to produce heat and is typically found around the neck, armpits and chest; it was first reported in human adults in 2009.
The team was led by Paul Cohen of The Rockefeller University, working with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the paper appeared in Nature.
The study is retrospective, so it cannot by itself prove that brown fat causes the benefits.