The energy expenditure required to counteract low temperatures involves fat consumption, which helps to lose weight.
Using the drop in temperature to achieve your goal
As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. Especially if you’re thinking of shedding those Christmas pounds you’ve gained and are still struggling to lose: the drop in temperature can help you achieve your goal.
The body needs to maintain a constant temperature of approximately 37º, so if the environment around us is much colder, the body has to start up a calorie-generating mechanism. To give you an idea of what this means, this series of processes necessary to counteract the cold can involve an expenditure of up to 30% of the body’s total energy budget.
When the thermometer reads between 25 and 30ºC, our body does not need to consume energy. But when it drops to 17º, the body tends to produce brown adipose tissue, good fat that burns energy and glucose, and which produces the heat necessary to maintain body heat”.
As a general recommendation, the doctor advises getting used to living in a less hot environment, lowering the temperature of central heating in air-conditioned buildings during winter nights.
On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that not all of us have the same perception of cold. It often happens that certain people are particularly affected by the same temperature. There are indeed patients who report feeling colder than average. There are several causes related to this sensitivity to cold:
- a lack of body fat
- chronic illness
- a deteriorated general state of health, such as anaemia, anorexia or hypothyroidism.
As for using cold as a weight loss tool, the doctor reminds us that there are many methods that make use of low temperatures to lose weight.
Methods of weight loss that use cold as a tool
- Cold water: As with food, the body needs to warm drinks that are consumed very cold. For example, drinking a litre of water means burning around 37 kcals to heat it up.
- Cold Food: The body cannot allow food to reach the bloodstream cold, so it must first warm it up in the stomach. This not only costs energy, but also slows down digestion and delays the onset of hunger.
- Cold bandages: This causes a local drop in temperature that accelerates the body’s metabolic activity, leading to energy consumption. This leads to a reduction in the thickness of fat mass, the elimination of toxins and the toning of tissues.
- Cold showers: In addition to the other benefits of showering with water that is not hot, a two-minute shower at 25º consumes approximately 100 kcals.
What about Diet and Sport?
It is worth remembering that a proper weight loss procedure includes keeping active and eating a balanced diet. Healthy and sustainable weight loss starts with a healthy, balanced diet and regular physical activity. To lose many kilos in a short period of time, it is important to follow a healthy eating plan and commit to regular physical activity. A combination of these two elements can help you achieve your weight loss goals.
A balanced diet is the key to healthy and sustainable weight loss. For example, sweat belts are products that are worn around the waist to aid weight loss. They are designed to stimulate sweating to increase metabolism and calorie loss. They can be worn during exercise or during daily activities and can help accelerate weight loss. Also food supplements such as Reduslim are really worth a try!