AI scans of 100,000+ people found those with 'brown fat' had less diabetes, heart disease, anxiety and depression. People on blood pressure pills were more likely to have it, and in mice, the common drug losartan switched brown fat on, making it burn more energy and heat.
A Nature 2026 study used AI analysis of 101,243 PET-CT scans and found that people with more brown adipose tissue (BAT) had lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, and anxiety/depression. BAT was more common in those taking blood pressure drugs, especially ARBs such as losartan. In mice, losartan activated BAT and increased thermogenic energy expenditure. The research was conducted at Rockefeller University; the causal chain in humans has not been verified.
A hot post on r/science (u/mvea) reports an AI imaging study based on 101,243 PET-CT scans: people with more brown adipose tissue (BAT) have lower risks of diabetes, heart disease, and anxiety/depression; BAT was more common among those taking antihypertensive medications (especially losartan-type ARBs), and in mouse experiments losartan could "switch on" BAT, increasing thermogenic energy expenditure. Rich comments: u/seanpbnj details the multi-organ benefits of ARBs via the renin-angiotensin system; u/EyeCaved, u/HistoryDoesUnfold and others caution that "AI scan" is media wording, that human-mouse differences are large, and that association ≠ causation; u/BelCantoTenor points out that evidence for cold therapy increasing BAT is weak. The core conclusions of the study (Nature 2026, Rockefeller University) have been verified (✔); "losartan for increasing BAT/weight loss in humans" remains preclinical.
Checked ✔ (Nature 2026 study, 101,243 PET-CT scans, negative correlation of BAT with metabolic/psychiatric risk, and losartan activating BAT in mice verified via search; human application unproven)
A 100,000-scan PET-CT study plus mouse experiments links ARB use to richer brown fat, with losartan activating BAT in mice, but human causality is unestablished.
Source: Reddit