The Missing Secret to Weight Loss
Weight loss is simple, burn more calories than you use. Achieving this as a lifestyle is the part that takes the greatest skill. To help achieve weight loss you have probably heard repeatedly how you need to eat more vegetables and include regular movement. You may not have heard about the potential impact that the temperature you are living in may be influencing your weight.
Two different studies suggested for every 1 degree you increase the temperature, the amount you eat will reduce by 110kJ to 360kJ a day. If you add a heated room to a sweaty session of cardio this could add more fuel to the fire by decreasing how much you want to eat in the next meal by up to 25%!
Certain foods can increase the heat or core body temperature too. One well known food which can heat up your body is chili. You may have found that your desire to eat more food is reduced when you have hot and spicy foods. Over a day this can save you from eating about the equivalent of two or three pieces of chocolate and is nothing to write home about. To lose around half a kilo of body weight from this amount would take you over several months.
Good news for the chilli lovers is one study found that regular consumers of 50g of chilli a day were 25% less likely to be overweight or obese than those who did not eat chili regularly in their diet. However, if you wanted to make more of a substantial change to your waistline the temperature you live in may increase how much you want to eat by much more of a significant amount.
The reason temperature influences your body has been proposed to be because of a heat receptor in your brain which, when activated, reduces how much you want to eat. The receptors known as TRPV1 receptors becomes active to a smaller amount when you eat hot and spicy food and even more when you do cardio like running on the treadmill as well as when you are living in a hotter climate. As small increase of temperature as 4 or 5 degrees has been shown to reduce the average weight by 1 kilo! When temperatures are even more extreme such as the artic compared to the desert, the difference in how much is eaten was discovered to be as substantial as 7500kJ or 1793 calories difference in soldiers.
For some delicious ways to increase your core temperature using chili try these delicious recipes from Corn Thins:
- Avocado, Edamame & Chilli Oil: https://www.cornthins.com/index.php/en-us/node/57549
- Chicken, Carrot, Cucumber, Red Onion, Jalapeno, Coriander & Chilli: https://www.cornthins.com/en-us/node/57471
- Sausage, Avo, Chili Pickle, Baby Spinach, Feta & Lime Salad: https://www.cornthins.com/en-us/node/57343
Take Home Message: This information is not suggesting that you live in a sauna or disregard other important lifestyle habits for health. However, this evidence may be helpful if you want to help lose those last few kilos and are currently eating a balanced diet and exercising on a regular basis.
References:
1. Jeong JH, Lee DK, Liu SM, Chua SC, Jr., Schwartz GJ, Jo YH. Activation of temperature-sensitive TRPV1-like receptors in ARC POMC neurons reduces food intake. PLoS biology.
2. Shi Z, Riley M, Taylor AW, Page A. Chilli consumption and the incidence of overweight and obesity in a Chinese adult population. International journal of obesity (2005). 2017;41(7):1074-9.
3. Bernhard MC, Li P, Allison DB, Gohlke JM. Warm Ambient Temperature Decreases Food Intake in a Simulated Office Setting: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Frontiers in nutrition. 2015;2:20.
4. Rocha J, Paxman J, Dalton C, Winter E, Broom D. Effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on immediate and subsequent three-day food intake and energy expenditure in active and inactive pre-menopausal women taking oral contraceptives. Appetite. 2015;89:183-91.
5. Johnson RE, Kark RM. Environment and Food Intake in Man. Science. 1947;105(2728):378-9.