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central heating feels good on windy winter nights, but a new study conducted by researchers from University College London suggests that keeping your home can be too soft you fat.
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The idea is that the exposure to cold prompts humans to generate their own heat - by chills, for example, in extremely cold conditions - which, in turn, helps burn calories. When he is already toasty inside, we should not expend extra energy to get comfortable. The New York Times reports
.Even in slightly colder conditions, such as in a cold room with the thermostat turned down to the 60 lowest, people produce additional heat without trembling. This process, called non-shivering thermogenesis, may involve a substance called brown fat than adults are in some areas, like the upper back and side of the neck. Unlike regular fat, which stores excess energy and calories, brown fat acts like an internal furnace that consumes a lot of calories, but it must first be activated - and cold temperatures make
The authors of the new study, published in the journal Reviews obesity noted that the average indoor temperatures have increased steadily in the United Kingdom and the United States in recent decades, central heating has become increasingly available - and obesity rates have increased too. The average temperature in British living rooms increased from 64.9 degrees to 70.3 degrees F F, from 1978 to 2008. Living in the United States have long been heated to at least 70 degrees F. In fact, average temperatures have increased throughout the house - and winter, people tend not to leave their homes much, at least not unless it's in a heated car. ( More on Time.com: 5 Fitness Apps to Get You Off the Couch)
"expectations increased time spent indoors, widespread access to central heating and air conditioning, and an increase in thermal comfort contribute to limit the range of temperatures we experience in daily life and reduce the time our bodies spend under mild thermal stress - meaning we burn less energy " said lead author Fiona Johnson in a statement. "This could have an impact on energy balance and ultimately have an impact on body weight and obesity."
Although humans are born with significant deposits of brown fat - whose main purpose is to regulate body temperature by burning energy for heating. - these stores decreased over time as adults our brown fat stores fell, having been replaced the more familiar white fat, the stuff that hangs over belt buckles and swings on the back of the arms. ( More on Time.com: 5 Weight loss Working Applications)
Studies show, however, that the brown fat activity can be triggered even in adults. Thus, the Times asks: "Could lower the thermostat to make a noticeable difference in the weight of the people"
Dr. C. Ronald Kahn, a professor at Harvard Medical School? who did research on brown fat, said it could actually help with weight control over time, as long as people stick with it.
"When we put people in a room 60 degrees, they increase their energy expenditure of 100 or 200 calories a day if they are in light clothing, "as scrubs in the hospital, he said. "They are not shivering. They activate their brown fat."
Over a period of several weeks, they burned an extra 3,500 calories, which results in the loss of a book.
The problem, Dr. Kahn said, is that "most people will not stay at that temperature for a long time."
More on Time.com:
Brown Fat: a fat that helps you lose weight
study: Scientists Find a way to Trigger Fat-Fat Burning
Overcoming obesity: on the front line of the battle of the bulge
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