Too much thinking 'can make you fat'

[n2doc]

Researchers found the stress of thinking caused overeating with heavy thinkers seeking out more calories.

The research team, supervised by Dr Angelo Tremblay, measured the spontaneous food intake of 14 students after each of three tasks.

The first was relaxing in a sitting position, the second reading and summarizing a text, and finally completing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on the computer.

After 45 minutes at each activity, participants were invited to eat as much as they wanted from a buffet.

The researchers had already discovered that each session of intellectual work requires only three calories more than the rest period.

However, despite the low energy cost of mental work, the students spontaneously consumed 203 more calories after summarizing a text and 253 more calories after the computer tests.

This represents a 23.6 per cent and 29.4 per cent increase, respectively, compared with the rest period.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4043727/Too-much-thinking-can-make-you-fat.html

more like, too much eating while thinking makes you fat...

[MADem]

1. So, Karl Rove is a big thinker, then??? nt

[Warpy]

5. Yeth, but thtop lithping.

[MADem]

12. !!!!!

:rofl:

[hvn_nbr_2]

14. Does JeffR read this forum?

I don't usually expect to find DUzy's here in the health forum.

[108blessings]

15. Skinny as a rail, I take it?

[ananda]

2. It's true that the brain does require glucose.

However, is it a given that thinking
uses a lot of glucose, and what is
"thinking" anyway?

I mean.. I'm always thinking.. and I
don't overeat or go into carb cravings
either.. even after a period of hard
brainwork or whatever you want to call it.

[Donnachaidh]

3. Absolutely NO indication of WHO funded this *study* anywhere in this article.

When these *articles* fully disclose WHO or WHAT corporation funded these studies, I'll take them seriously. And this one just REEKS of a study being done to give some company a hefty tax write-off. :puke:

[Occam Bandage]

6. What, exactly, makes you think that this study was commissioned by a corporation? nt

[varkam]

11. You're just a Big Fat shill.

:rofl:

Oh, I kill me.

[Occam Bandage]

4. I'd imagine they eat the food as a way to unwind after a stressful/tedious task.

It's not so much "too much thinking can make you fat," but what everyone already knows: using food as a form of stress control leads to weight issues.

[salvorhardin]

13. Another explanation might be...

Another explanation might be that the brain and body are unable to distinguish between mental and physical stress. After all, people exhibit similar symptoms for each so maybe the brain and body just responds in the only way it knows how -- to demand more fuel.

[Journeyman]

7. Could be too, the "thinkers" recognized it was free food in a time of want . . .

gotta stock up for the lean times when the pickings are easy.

[kevsand]

8. Then how do we explain the epidemic of obesity?

It's sure not from heavy thinking...

[Occam Bandage]

9. This article ties into the obesity epidemic quite well, actually.

The students, having worked on mentally stressful tasks, were given a buffet of food and allowed to unwind. The students who were more stressed used the food as a way to soothe themselves, and thus ate more food. Those who were not as stressed--having just relaxed instead of working--did not feel the desire to use food to relax, and ate only out of hunger.

The obesity epidemic is very much a problem of lifestyle, in which people not only exercise less, but also grow accustomed to using food to fulfill emotional needs as well as physical needs.

[no_hypocrisy]

10. My name is _______ and I'm a member of Thinkers Anonymous.

[Crunchy Frog]

16. Does this Wittgenstein make my ass look big?