Weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro work by suppressing appetite and making the user feel less hungry, reducing how much they eat. But a new study suggests tirzepatide, the active ingredient in both drugs, it could help the body use more energy by activating brown fat. The finding primarily comes from mice, not humans, so it is too early to say that tirzepatide can directly increase the number of calories burned in users. The study, led by researchers at the University of Barcelona and published in Biomedicine, looked at how tirzepatide affects different types of fat tissue. How Does Tirzepatide Usually Help With Weight Loss? Tirzepatide works by mimicking two hormones, GIP and GLP-1, which are involved in appetite, food intake and blood sugar regulation. One of its major effects is reducing appetite, which can help people consume fewer calories. Research has already shown that tirzepatide can substantially reduce energy intake compared to placebo. But researchers wanted to know whether there was something else happening inside the body that could not simply be explained by eating less, which led them to brown fat.Also read: Stopping Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro Linked To 22% Higher Heart Attack, Stroke Risk: StudyWhat Is Brown Fat? Most of us are familiar with white fat, which stores excess energy. Brown fat is brown adipose tissue. It is known for using energy and producing heat. It contains mitochondria that allow it to burn fuel. The researchers gave obese mice tirzepatide and compared them to mice that were not given the drug but consumed the same amount of food. This development allowed the scientists to separate the effects of the drug from the effects of simply eating fewer calories. They identified that tirzepatide activated brown adipose tissue. According to the researchers, this was linked with a greater capacity to use metabolic energy and with the production of signalling molecules called batokines, which may have beneficial effects on metabolism.Also read: CagriSema Beats Lilly’s Mounjaro & Zepbound In New Trial: All About Novo’s Next-Gen Obesity DrugCould Mounjaro And Zepbound Also Burn Calories? It’s a possibility but it has not yet been proven in humans. The study suggests that tirzepatide can activate a biological pathway involved in energy burning. That is different from proving that Mounjaro or Zepbound can burn calories as well. This distinction is important because headlines about “boosting metabolism” can make the effect sound much larger or more established than the evidence currently allows. For years, scientists have been exploring whether activating brown fat could help find another way of tackling obesity. Most weight-loss strategies focus heavily on reducing how much energy enters the body. Activating brown fat offers another way of increasing how much energy the body uses. Previous attempts to stimulate brown fat pharmacologically have run into problems, particularly due to unforeseen cardiovascular effects. The University of Barcelona researchers say tirzepatide’s known cardiovascular benefits make its brown-fat activation particularly interesting, although this finding itself still needs to be confirmed in huma Tirzepatide ns. Tirzepatide already has several effects on the body through its GIP and GLP-1 activity. Reduced appetite and food intake remain important mechanisms behind its weight-loss effects. The new study suggests that changes in fat tissue and energy metabolism could add scope layer to the drug’s effects. But it would be premature to conclude that brown-fat activation is responsible for a the weight loss seen with tirzepatide in people.