Keeping a busy social life amongst lots of friends may keep people slimmer than spending hours on a treadmill, according to scientists.
They say that socializing and meeting with friends helps boost levels of "brown fat" in the body which burns calories to generate heat. And by converting white fat which stores calories and makes us fatter into brown， socializing realizes weight loss.
The research team from Ohio State University came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice.
Those who lived alongside a greater number of mice had more space and toys to stimulate them lost far more weight over the course of the study than their "couch potato" counterparts.
Living in a stimulating, social environment was found to reduce abdominal fat in mice by half over four weeks, even if they ate more.
Study author Dr Matthew During said, converting white fat into brown is notoriously difficult, normally requiring long term exposure to cold conditions.
He said the degree of fat loss that comes from social activities is far more than you would get with a treadmill.
The findings appear in journal Cell Metabolism.


据英国《每日邮报》9月6日报道，科学家称，与一大帮朋友保持忙碌的社交联系比花时间在健身房锻炼更能使人保持苗条身材。

科学家表示，社交和会友有助于提高人体内"褐色脂肪"含量。褐色脂肪能燃烧卡路里，释放热量，白脂肪则贮存卡路里使人变胖。社交活动可使白脂肪转换成褐色脂肪，从而达到减肥的效果。

美国俄亥俄州立大学的研究团队通过研究小鼠在不同生活环境中所受到的影响，提出了他们的理论。

在实验过程中，那些和一大群同类在一起的小鼠，它们拥有更多的空间和玩具，这使得它们比那些慵懒的整日待在家中的小鼠减去了更多的体重。

科学家发现，经过四周时间，生活在兴奋的社交环境中的小鼠，即便它们饭量增加，其腹部的脂肪还是减少了一半。

研究员马修•杜林说，众所周知，将白色脂肪转换成棕色脂肪是件难事，通常情况下，（想要完成这种转换），人体就需要长时间暴露在寒冷的环境中。

他说，参加社交活动所达到的减肥效果远胜于使用跑步机。

该发现发表在《细胞代谢》期刊上。

• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
• alongside [əlɔŋ´said] ad.在旁 prep.横靠 (高中英语单词)
• stimulate [´stimjuleit] v.刺激；服兴奋剂 (高中英语单词)
• environment [in´vaiərənmənt] n.郊区；周围；条件 (高中英语单词)
• exposure [ik´spəuʒə] n.暴露；曝光(时间) (高中英语单词)
• generate [´dʒenəreit] vt.创造；发生；引起 (英语四级单词)
• normally [´nɔ:məli] ad.正常情况下；通常 (英语六级单词)