Study: cold temperatures burn more calories

There’s more new research to help get you out the door when it’s chilly.

Research from the Netherlands and Japan has found that regular exposure to mild cold activates good brown fat which burns more calories. The hypothesis of the researchers is what led to the studies.

The article was published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism.

“Since most of us are exposed to indoor conditions 90 per cent of the time, it is worth exploring health aspects of ambient temperatures,” said Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt of Maastricht University Medical Centre. “What would it mean if we let our bodies work again to control body temperature? We hypothesize that the thermal environment affects human health and more specifically, that frequent mild cold exposure can significantly affect our energy expenditure over sustained time periods.”

The study is focused not on extreme cold, but a slight drop in indoor temperatures. It found that a small, one- or two-degree, drop in the indoor temperatures can help burn some extra calories.

The researchers found that after spending two hours each day at 17 degrees for six weeks marked a decrease in body fat among participants. More research also found that humans adapt to the cold and after only ten days of six-hour exposure to 15 degree temperatures, participants found themselves to be much more comfortable.

Simply turning down your thermostat by a degree, or letting the temperature of your home fluctuate more widely along with the outside temperature, may be a good choice for helping burn an extra few calories.

And you could always get out for a run during the winter.