Uncoupling proteins (of which there are now 5 known types, up from one when I was a medical student 4 years ago) increase basal metabolic rate. The effect of in

Uncoupling proteins (of which there are now 5 known types, up from one when I was a medical student 4 years ago) increase basal metabolic rate. The effect of increasing metabolic rate includes a raft of other metabolic changes (some of which may be because fat is an endocrine tissue by itself and so reducing visceral fat - which has a 'bad' endocrine profile - leads to a systemic improvement in 'healthy' endocrine signalling) that globally improve health. Essentially exercise without exercising, so generally these are good discoveries - but we as yet haven't harnessed it in a useful (ie drug) form