A study has found a new fat cell called "beige fat" that may help shed pounds.

The newly discovered fat cell is said to burn calories and may be useful for weight loss and treating obesity in adults.

The new fat cell is said to live in deposits around the collarbone and spine.

Beige fat is the third type of fat cell to be identified so far.

"We've identified a third type of fat cell," study author Bruce Spiegelman of Harvard Medical School said, according to Live Science.

"There's white, brown, and now there is this third type that is present in most or all human beings."

ABC News reported that, unlike white fat that piles up useless calories and awkwardly hangs off the human body, beige fat might actually help expend energy.

"During exercise, muscles release the hormone irisin, which then converts ordinary white fat cells into beige ones — and those beige cells burn up extra calories," said Spiegelman, reported ABC News.

The discovery of irisin and its conversion ability was also discovered by Spiegelman earlier this year.

The study was published in the journal Cell.

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