SlenderQuest™ and
BAT Thermogenesis
SlenderQuest is considered a thermogenic. This is crucial because it defines how and why
SlenderQuest works. Understanding thermogenesis helps us understand what makes this
product special and why it really is a breaking technology.
A thermogenic product aids the body in a normal metabolic function called thermogenesis. The
concept of thermogenesis is very simple. "Thermo" means heat and "genesis" means beginning.
The “beginning of heat” ... specifically in the body. Thermogenesis in humans means we warm
from the inside out. It is the primary way we maintain our body temperatures at 98.6 degrees. It
is the reason that newborns don't shiver. It is how hibernating animals stay warm for weeks and
months at a time. Thermogenesis occurs in all cells to a more or lesser degree but specifically, it
occurs most in what is called "brown adipose tissue" (BAT).
Brown adipose tissue is technically an organ, like your skin is an organ. But, in structure it is like
fat. You have two types of fat in the body - brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue
(WAT). WAT is the fat you can see, BAT you cannot. BAT is unique in the body because its
primary role is to burn excess calories that are not being used to maintain the metabolic
functions of the body (i.e. to keep it going). This is a critical concept. Let's say you take in 2,000
calories in a day but through all your activities including just keeping your motor running, you
burn only 1,700 of those calories. Where does the excess calories go?
They are stored as fat in the WAT which, if this happens frequently enough becomes visible, like
around the waist. If your BAT was working properly it would have burned those extra 300
calories and released them into the body via convection or radiation. The BAT is able to
apprehend those extra calories because it is equipped with multiple mitochondria and other
special equipment that enables it to interrupt the transference of calories to the WAT. If you are
using up your entire daily caloric intake in daily functions (i.e., normal metabolism, exercising
etc.), the BAT has to resort to using calories that have been stored in the WAT to heat the body.
That is how thermogenesis occurs in the BAT making the BAT a twenty four-hour a day internal
caloric consumption machine.
So where is this BAT and why isn't it working?
BAT is located around blood vessels and major organs. It isn't working very well in adults
because very early in life humans begin to heat the body from the outside by wearing clothes and
living in temperature controlled environments. This causes the BAT to atrophy—shrinking from
under use just like muscles do. And it can loose some of what makes it unique (i.e., the presence
of the uncoupling protein (UCP-1)). How and why uncoupling protein plays a role gets a little
complicated but suffice it to say it is the reason BAT works the way that it does.
To recap, we have calories going into the body, some being used, and some not. If everything is
functioning properly, the BAT will burn the excess calories as "convection or radiant" heat. But,
if the BAT is not functioning properly, the excess calories will be stored as fat in the very visible
WAT.
Can BAT be restored to do the job it did as a newborn?
Absolutely, it just has to be effectively stimulated to grow. Amino acids make proteins and
proteins make muscles. Likewise, there are elements that are readily bioavailable to the human
system that will make BAT and UCP-1 grow.
Scientists have been aware of BAT for about 300 years. But it wasn’t until the mid nineteenseventies that scientists believed that the function of BAT could be restored. Since then,
scientific research has concentrated on isolating specific compounds in nature that would restore
the natural function of BATT (brown adipose tissue thermogenesis). Interestingly, the elements
discovered that would indeed do the job are natural ephedra, certain types of caffeine and aspirin.
When combined in a very delicately balanced blend, ephedra, caffeine and aspirin will make
BAT and UCP-1 grow, restoring BATT.
Products with this blend are called "thermogenics". However, not all products advertised as
thermogenics act specifically on BAT. All food, for example, is thermogenic in that consumption
creates cellular heat. But, we do not refer to food in general as being thermogenic as
thermogensis is not the primary by-product of food. Also, bear in mind that the BAT has
numerous mitochondria and therefore can more efficiently burn up calories than any other
metabolic process.
How long does it take to make the BAT grow?
It's different for everybody. For one person with highly functioning BAT, they may be burning
their excess calories in a matter of a few weeks. On the other end of the spectrum, people with
seriously deteriorated BAT may take months to restore their BAT to a level where it begins to
function like it was intended. They just have to be a little more patient because if they are
consistent with a true thermogenic product, at some point the BAT will kick in. So it may not be
a quick fix for many but it will be a permanent one.
Scientists are calling the BATT restoration discovery an “incredibly exciting finding”. The
concept of thermogenesis and the keys that BATT restoration may hold in overcoming obesity
has caused an avalanche of research in the field of bariatrics. BATT is considered the future of
the weight loss research to the extent that the term “thermogenesis” is predicted to become as
commonly known as “digestion”.
Scientists are predicting that even the phrase “weight loss” will become obsolete along with the
common bathroom scale because BATT deals more with “fat loss” and “fat-to-lean mass ratios”
than “weight loss”. This is possible because BATT does not affect lean mass tissue, which is
three times heavier than fat tissue. As a matter of fact, you can actually wear smaller clothes and
weigh more than when you were “fatter”. The body shape is what changes and lean mass needs
more body fluid (water) than fat. So the issue in science is not weight any longer, it’s about fat
compared to lean mass as a proportion.
It’s only a matter of time before the consumer markets follows. They always do, even though the
lag time can be as much as a decade behind the science. That’s where SlenderQuest has a
distinct competitive advantage over other so-called “thermogenic” products on the market today.
First, SlenderQuest was developed by VisionQuest’s Medical Director, Leonard Haimes, M.D.
Dr. Haimes has spent the last 25 plus years of a 40 year career studying the science of weight
management as a bariatric physician, honored in numerous ways by his colleagues both in the
US and abroad.
Further, the most popular so-called thermogenic (ephedra/caffeine/aspirin) products on the
market today are not blended in proportions proper for stimulating the restoration of BAT
thermogenesis. These types of products are popular, as weight loss products because as
stimulants, one would typically eat less, so there are fewer calories going into the body. The
result is minimal weight loss. The downside is that the weight loss experienced is short-term and
disproportionate.
Our research concludes that Dr. Haimes is the only physician to successfully make this
combination in a homeopathic formula. The advantage of the SlenderQuest formulation is it not
only capitalizes on the positive attributes of the ephedra/caffeine/aspirin combination to
stimulate BAT restoration, but also takes the equation several steps further by adding compounds
to enhance the entire metabolic and digestive process. And the ingredients are in the proper
balance to stimulate BAT and UCP-1 growth ... with NO fear of any side effects.