Researches from Yale School of Medicine discovered that An enzyme found in the brain acts as a major regulator of body weight, In a new study, they found that removing the enzyme from neurons in a part of the brain known as the hypothalamus led to gain weight and burn less fat. This finding, they say, suggests that the enzyme OGT could help.

“This suggested that OGT plays an important role as a nutrient sensor in this neuron population,” said Xiaoyong Yang, professor of comparative medicine and of cellular and molecular physiology at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.

When the body has adequate amounts of food, its preferred fuel is glucose. “But when you fast, your glucose runs out quickly,” explained Yang. The body then taps into its fat stores in order to meet energy demands.

“Without OGT, the body can’t sense that less food is coming in, and then it doesn’t tell its fat tissues to burn fat,” said Yang.

Yang likens OGT to a thermostat, or a “metastat,” as he calls it, since OGT is crucial for metabolic homeostasis.

You set a thermostat to the temperature you’d like a room to be. In the summer, as your room begins to heat up, your air conditioner kicks in to return the room to the temperature you’ve programmed.

OGT is like a metastat, Yang says, working to keep the body’s weight at its set point. “And that set point will be different from individual to individual,” he said. While a person’s weight can fluctuate from time to time, the body’s metabolic processes work to keep the weight around its set point.

“So if you eat a big meal, for example, your body recognizes that and burns more calories to keep your weight at that set point,” said Yang. “And OGT is critical for setting that weight point.