An hour of sudoku, new way to burn calories

Furthermore, if one does this mental exercise for two hours, it would mean burning off a pack of Hula Hoops (175 calories), bag of Maltesers (186), a Cadbury's Creme Egg (173), or a bag of Jelly Babies (180), the research said.

Mental agility expert Tim Forrester from brain training website cannyminds.com, which published the claims, said, "Our brains require 0.1 calories every minute simply to survive."

"When we do something challenging such as a puzzle or a quiz we burn through 1.5 calories every minute," he added.

Eight-time World Memory Champion Dominic O'Brien said brains need work outs just as much as bodies do.

"Just as you need to continually exercise your body to stay fit and healthy you also need to exercise your brain and memory to remain mentally agile," he said.

The brain function
According to the experts, doing a mental exercise burns calories in the same way as a physical workout does.

To justify the unusual claim, the researchers explained how the brain functions. They said our brain is made up of millions of nerve cells called neurons which transmit the messages to and from the body.

To relay the messages, the neurons produce chemicals called neurotrasmitters that need glucose, calories and oxygen to work effectively. Thus, the more challenging exercises you undertake, the more energy the brain will require and the more calories you will burn.

A spokesman from the British Dietetic Association said, “When thinking hard, the brain needs to get its energy from somewhere. It can get this energy from burning calories.

“The brain is like any other body part-if you are working it hard you will need more calories to work well.”

Thinking harder will not make you thinner
The experts have warned that thinking harder or taking up mind games should not be taken as a potential way to shed some extra pounds.

Although the brain uses more energy while doing difficult puzzles and quizzes involving mental exercise, it only breaks down the glucose molecules in blood and not the fatty tissue to do so.

Losing pounds will still need a healthy diet intake and a regular fitness regimen, they said.