Stop thinking too much to stave off obesity

Quebec, Canada, January 2: Scientists from the University Laval in Quebec, Canada, have found that too much thinking can lead to overeating, thus making a person fat.

In their study, a team of researchers, headed by Jean-Philippe Chaput, noticed that participants consumed 23.6 percent more calories after intellectual tasks. The stress of thinking caused “heavy” thinkers to eat more calories, the experts explained.

To reach their findings, the research team, supervised by Dr Angelo Tremblay, measured the food intake of 14 students after each of three tasks.

The study subjects followed three different tasks: relaxing in a sitting position, reading and summarizing a text, and lastly, completing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on the computer.

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

The researchers found that despite the low energy cost of mental work, students reading and summarizing a text took in 203 more calories compared to those completing the memory tests on computer who consumed 253 more calories.

This represents a 23.6 percent and 29.4 percent increase, respectively, compared with their calorie consumption during the rest period.

According to Chaput, any mental or intellectual work causes much bigger fluctuations in glucose and insulindefine levels than rest periods.

"These fluctuations may be caused by the stress of intellectual work, or also reflect a biological adaptation during glucose combustion,” said Chaput.

He added: "Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialized countries."

"This is a factor that should not be ignored, considering that more and more people hold jobs of an intellectual nature."

Findings of the study appear in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.