When someone wants to lose weight, if there is no added pathology, they usually know what to do. It is clear to all of us that diet and exercise are basic to this. However, perhaps there are other activities that also consume energy and we are not aware of this, Have you ever wondered if thinking burns fat? Do you think of burning calories as other activities? Come along and meet us! what science explains .
Suppose you spend Sunday on the sofa at home watching series and attending to the social networks you've had abandoned all week; Monday you go back to work where you have to solve problems creatively and requires intense mental activity. The question we ask ourselves is whether Monday's mental effort burns more energy than we spend Sunday on our couch. The answer of science is yes.
Thinking burns calories?
Professor Ewan McNay of the University of Albany has studied this topic and his response is positive. Thinking burns calories . Our brain works exclusively with glucose. unlike other parts of the body. If mental activity is intense and strenuous we will require more glucose to work at least on the part of our brain that is involved in that particular activity. McNay says more calories are burned when we study or memorize than if we're sitting in front of the TV. However, this is not significant since the brain, even if we do not use it intensely, is the organ that costs more to maintain than those that we have in the body. It represents only 2% of body weight and yet consumes more than 20% of the energy we need to live.
The average brain on a normal day consumes about 300 calories . If the work we do requires mental effort, at most we'll spend 100 more calories than someone who's watching TV or daydreaming. In case the activity of our brain during approximately 8 hours was so demanding that it implied the use of several senses, as it would be for example to learn to play a new musical instrument, the consumption of calories could go up to 200 more in that day's work. . However, there's an effect you're sure to know when you're doing an intense mental task: as your body's glucose reserves diminish, your brain's ability to keep up with that demanding job will diminish. Exhaustion appears and the same level of cognitive performance cannot be maintained. If at that moment a stop is made and a caloric drink or some candies are consumed, the brain will be able to replace the glucose, but with that intake we will easily surpass the calories burned in our activity.
Thinking burns calories but not enough to lose weight . Our brain to maintain its normal activity as is managing body activities and get information from the environment consumes a lot of energy, but if you are intensely employed in some mental activity, the difference according to scientists, barely makes 5% of the total. An extra amount of blood, oxygen and glucose will be needed, but this increased energy requirement is very small compared to the total needs of the brain.
It is interesting to compare our brain with a light bulb to have clear the amount of energy it consumes:
- At rest, the metabolic rate consumes an average of 1,300 calories.
- These 1,300 calories in 24 hours represent 54'16 kcal. per hour that is 15'04 grams of calories per second.
- The 15'04 grams of calories per second is 62'93 joules per second which is equivalent to almost 63 watts.
- 20% of these 63 watts is 12.6 watts.
These numbers reflect that an average adult human brain works with one-fifth the power needed by a classic 60-watt bulb. With little more than 12 watts of power is enough.
Scientists have resolved that difficulty with a mental task has little effect on energy consumption and that in any case seems to respond more than the effort required or the resources available to variables that are related to age, personality type or simply to the way each organism regulates glucose.
In short, the answer to yes thinking burns calories or thinking burns fat said vulgarly, is affirmative, but not in sufficient quantity to bring about a change in our bodies. Anyway, Professor McNay says that if we use our brains intensely for 50 or 60 years and add up the calories consumed, it does give significant figures, at least in theory, and encourages everyone to use the brain as much as possible, even if it's not to burn fat or lose weight. Did you suppose that thinking burns calories Do you feel exhausted after an intense study session? Share your experience with us! If you want to know more about how your brain works, we invite you to read the post: Why does our brain have wrinkles? Find out!