Why in the winter we spend more calories?
A morning jog not affect the body depending on air temperature. If you decide to go for a run in the cold, you should know that so go to the expense of more calories than in summer. Why? Consider this phenomenon from a scientific point of view.
- WINTER RACE
- SHIVERING AND BROWN FAT
- EASY TO DRESS UP
- IT’S NOT LIKE WE WOULD LIKE
Winter race
Usually, sports activities we put off until the spring and summer. In the winter I would like to wrap up warm and spend less energy. In the winter most of us gaining weight. The pour oil on the fire and the Christmas holidays, leaving a mark on our body.
However, paradoxically, but in the winter you have the chance to lose weight faster than in the summer. All you need to overcome laziness and go out in the cold on the street.
Studies conducted in USA, UK, Norway and other countries demonstrates that in the cold season, a person expends more energy. Therefore, if your goal is burning calories, just in the winter it will get faster. Long been known that the colder the water, the more lose energy swimmers. The thing is that in the cold, in addition to burning energy to perform physical work, you still burn calories to heat the body. Therefore, the fuel consumption increases in winter, so you lose weight faster, of course, if you do not compensate more high-calorie food.
The winter issue of weight loss, just that this time of year we eat food that is 1.3-1.5 times high-calorie summer meal. On the table less than salads, and if they are, it is often flavored with mayonnaise and other high-calorie dressings.
Shivering and brown fat
When you are cold, your body begins to tremble. This is happening for a reason. So the body reflexively begins to contract the muscles to keep warm. This is a subtle physiological mechanism that allows living organisms to adapt to extreme conditions, while maintaining the integrity of the body.
However, the tremors aren’t the only mechanism for warming the body in cold weather. Another way to warm up the mobilization of brown fat. Previously believed that brown fat is found only in infants, but it is now known that it is present in adults. What is brown fat?
In our body there are two kinds of fat-white and brown. The first stores the excess energy, and the second releases it. So, 50 grams of white fat is stored up to 300 kcal of energy. At the same time, 50 grams of brown fat burn 300-350 calories.
There are studies showing that in obese people the amount of brown fat in the body less, which do not actively lose energy, and tend to its accumulation in the form of white fat. Increasing the amount of brown fat allows the body to actively burn energy faster and therefore lose weight.
Easy to dress up
So, we have found that in cold weather, the body begins to shiver and brown fat releases energy, converting it into heat, which is needed to heat the body. However, if you are going to exercise in the winter, it will quickly warm up. The body will cease to tremble, and the activity of brown fat will come to naught. Does this mean that the assertion that in the winter we spend more energy, is a myth?
Actually, it all depends on how you dress. If you are dressed warmly, it very quickly heats up, and the rate will go approximately the same amount of energy as in the warm season. But if you can dress easily, for example, will run in the same pants and a turtleneck, from the physical exertion will not be able to warm up. For additional heating of the body will include adaptation mechanisms thermogenesis, one aspect of which is the increased burning of body fat. Scientists estimate that in this scenario, you will spend 10-15% more energy.
It’s not like we would like
In fact, the 10% not so much Let’s look at three main components, which our body spends calories:
- The basal metabolic rate. This is the energy which is necessary for the body to maintain its functions at rest. For most people, the basal metabolic rate is 60 to 80% of the total energy expenditure.
- The digestion of food. So, for digestion the body also need to spend a certain amount of energy, and, as a rule, up to 10%.
- Physical activity. But physical activity remains only 10-30% of the total number!
Thus, if we are talking about the thermogenesis, it can enhance the consumption of those 10-30% energy 10-15%, which, in fact, is not a significant factor.
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