The body does not burn all the kilocalories consumed in exercise

SNOW FALL has also come to southern Finland. It prompts many to work in the snow.

When shoveling or shoveling snow, the thought inevitably comes to mind that this is good exercise – and one way to lose weight.

In terms of losing weight, it’s not quite straightforward.

Researchers have known for a long time that even vigorous exercise does not necessarily reduce weight as much as one might think.

Two health researcher at Duke University in the state of North Carolina in the United States compared how different studies show weight loss when daily energy consumption increases.

They took two models of energy consumption as a basis for the review. The scientific journal reports on the results Current Biology.

For decades, researchers used a fairly simple model to calculate human energy consumption. In a simplified way, it reads: Total energy expenditure is equal to basal metabolism plus exercise.

In this model, every kilocalorie burned during exercise is added to the kilocalories a person uses to stay alive during the day.

If a person consumes 2,000 kilocalories per day and then consumes 400 more while jogging, according to the formula, the total consumption is 2,400 kilocalories per day.

In this model, it is thought that excess consumption leads to weight loss.

Last In recent years, another model has emerged for the body’s energy consumption. According to it, our body has a limit to how much energy it can consume.

If we consume kilocalories through exercise, then as a counterbalance, the human body restrains its functions.

For example, the cells can start working with an economy flame. In this way, the body keeps its entire energy consumption within a predictable range.

Therefore, the extra kilocalories consumed by exercise do not affect weight loss as much as one might think.

The body goes into energy saving mode, especially during aerobic exercise, such as running or something similar. On the other hand, strength training can increase energy consumption even more than expected, New Scientist seal.

Health researchers Duke University compared these two models.

Herman Pontzer is an assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology and a health researcher at Duke University. Eric Trexler is a university lecturer in health and well-being at the same university.

They compared 14 studies of different exercise programs. 450 people had participated in them. The comparison also included several experiments performed on different animals.

The researchers compared the expected energy consumption of test subjects and test animals to the energy consumption actually consumed by humans and animals in the experiments.

Score suggest that the old model of energy consumption often overestimates how much daily energy consumption increases due to exercise.

According to calculations, only about a third, or 28 percent, of the kilocalories a person has burned during exercise increases daily energy consumption. The figure is an average and varies from person to person.

Exercise therefore increases energy consumption, but less than the old model of energy consumption would predict.

“Humans and other animals respond to increased physical activity. They reduce their energy consumption in other everyday tasks” say the researchers online service on MedicalXpress.

Exercise can therefore reduce weight less than expected. The phenomenon is detected previously in many comparisons.