Bile acids fire up fat-burning

EPFL scientists have discovered a novel role for bile acids: converting energy-storing white fat depots into energy-expending beige fat. The study is published. Obesity arises from an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. As a result, current treatments try to decrease calorie intake and/or increase energy expenditure. The problem is maintaining long-term effects. Non-invasive treatments, like diets and drugs that reduce intestinal ingestion are widely unpopular among patients, while bariatric surgery seems to be the only reliable treatment for obese people, despite being both expensive and invasive. But now a new study led by the lab Kristina Schoonjans at EPFL, suggests that a specific group of bile acids could directly burn away the lipids in our fat depots, effectively making it a new therapy against obesity.