2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Sport is very good for health, but also for our self-esteem in general. It is an integral part if you want to lose weight and enjoy a not perfect body like from the covers of fashion magazines. An interesting fact is that and mental activities such as chess they can help us burn calories, thus losing extra pounds.
It has a similar effect solving complex problems, and then the human brain consumes an average of about 30-40% more energy. American scientists have come to the conclusion that it is lack of mental activity is one of the reasons why more and more young people are suffering from obesity.
Mental activity also has a positive effect on the prevention of a number of diseases in old age, such as dementia, Alzheimer's and others. Reading books or even just solving sudoku is extremely useful for memory and the thought process in general.
In 2018, some of the participants in the chess tournament on the Isle of Man were assigned special devices that record and monitor the activity of the heart, as well as the amount of energy expended. After the end of the competition and the analysis of the data it became clear that the players of this one mental game have burned no less calories than athletes or runners.
Russian grandmaster Mikhail Antipov managed to lose as much as 560 kCal during the grueling mental race. This can be compared to running a distance of 8 kilometers or 1 hour of swimming. When measuring the heart rate of his opponent Hikaru Nakamura, a significant increase to 130 beats was observed, which helped to burning so many kilocalories with just mental activity.
Absolute destruction of stereotypes that mental activity can not help with weight loss, was the duel between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov. During the world competition Karpov lost 9 kilograms. Yes, the match lasted nearly half a year, but even this result is really impressive.
French scientists explain this phenomenon with the stress to which the body is subjected during a duel and competition. At a time of strong competition and a person's desire to win, the heart rate increases significantly, as does breathing. This, in turn, has a direct effect on the body's metabolism.
It has been proven that the brain of an adult spends about 20% of the energy that has been produced by our body, while in children this figure rises to 60%. The logical conclusion is that the more intense and active the mental activity, the more food is needed for the gray matter in the brain.
When different tasks are solved or some new information is memorized, then accordingly consume more calories. That is why thought processes can help you a lot not only as a prevention of a number of diseases, but also in losing extra pounds.
Another study by Canadian scientists showed that mental activity increases the amount of blood sugar, so an indirect assessment of the amount of energy itself can be made.
The brain is the only organ in the body that feeds on various products due to the breakdown of glucose. During the study itself, a group of volunteers were asked to solve several math problems on a computer, to rest or to learn some text by heart from fiction.
After the end of the study, it was found that the group performing mental activity consumed 200-250 kcal more than those who rested. They had increased levels of cortisol, which is activated in various stressful situations. Scientists believe that such emotional or stressful moments can increase the amount of energy expended by 30-40%.
The results of the students when they study before some exam were similar. Accordingly, as you get closer, their brains are expending more and more energy. The experiment showed that 72 hours before the test they consumed about 750 kcal, while on the day of the exam - 1000 kcal.
British scientists believe that people who have a slower thought process than those with a more agile mind, spend significantly more energy when solving tests. There are people who are of the opposite opinion, namely that the more resourceful a person is, the higher the amount of glucose. This, in turn, is an indicator of the energy needed for brain function.
Despite these data, scientists emphasize that in the elderly it will be quite difficult to lose weight only with mental activity, because they slow down metabolic processes.
In children, on the other hand, at the age of 5-6 years it is very easy to lose weight, because in this period of their lives they expend a large amount of energy due to the rapid development of the intellect.
However, over time and over the years, the brain's need for energy begins to decrease, and this is one of the reasons for the weight gain.
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