Lose Weight by Thinking???

Jeff wrote:


Yet the brain only uses about 450 or so calories per day. If you're
thinking, you're not paying as much attention to visual stimulation,
auditory stimulation, etc. So while some neurons will burn more glucose,
other parts will burn less energy. I really doubt that heavy-duty thinking
will result in enough additional calories to increase weight loss.

Jeff



So how about increased metabolism? Does increased metabolism mean more
calories being burnt? Does brain activity add to increased metabolism?

I ask 'cause I'm a notorious sweat-hog -- but it really only occurs on
my forehead and around my neck! My feet, by comparison, seem to hardly
ever sweat.

"NYC XYZ" schrieb:
I seem to have a very high metabolism, and I wonder if that's got any
relation to my being lost in my thoughts all the time....

Just for the records, an article on energy consumption.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/505785/

Regards,
Joachim

Del Cecchi wrote:

But then I don't get it, guys -- the claim is that 2% of body weight
consumes 20% of body energy. It may be "efficient," given the returns,
but that's still a substantial chunk in absolute terms. So in theory,
it seems like one should be able to lose weight by doing calculus!

Making the assumption that the amount of conscious mental activity has
any significant relation to the amount of energy consumed by the brain
strikes me as dubious, when you consider that the amount of the brain
used in doing so is quite small.

The word "significant" is important in there. The brain does consume
more energy while thinking. Thinking is hard enough work that few
like to do it for a living. But the amount of additional calories is
small when compared to total metabolism. Even a small amount of
added physical exercise will overwhelm those additional calories.

There is a completely separate area of discussion from the topic
of "Lose Weight by Thinking" - Mind over matter or biofeedback or
conscious control of subconscious control of autonomic metabolism
function. It is possible to *decide* to have a higher basal metabolism
and then to actually *have* a higher basal metabolism. Possible
does not equal easy! I did it once back in my 20s without biofeedback
equipment and it worked okay for loss but there was no maintenance
plan that I could figure out. And the amount of attention needed was
immense and my level of body awareness far better than what I
believe most people have.

Biofeedback should work, though. Hook a temperature sensor to
the chest and have the light switch from red to green when the
reading goes up a fraction of a degree. Each week up the ante
by increasing the threshold until two months in it takes a full
degree to turn on the green light. Eventually the dieter can decide
to increase body temperature by deciding to turn the green light
on. I'd love to see this tried in a controlled study! It would make
for a wonderfull product as it could be used long term.

"Prisoner at War" wrote in message
oups.com...

Jeff wrote:


Yet the brain only uses about 450 or so calories per day. If you're
thinking, you're not paying as much attention to visual stimulation,
auditory stimulation, etc. So while some neurons will burn more glucose,
other parts will burn less energy. I really doubt that heavy-duty
thinking
will result in enough additional calories to increase weight loss.

Jeff



So how about increased metabolism? Does increased metabolism mean more
calories being burnt? Does brain activity add to increased metabolism?

Increased metabolism means more calories being burned. However, I doubt it
means more calories burned inside your head.

I ask 'cause I'm a notorious sweat-hog -- but it really only occurs on
my forehead and around my neck! My feet, by comparison, seem to hardly
ever sweat.

Did you ever see a picture of someone with a small cut on his/her head, like
after a car crash? Small cut, but blood everywhere. The forehead and head
and neck, in general, have a rich vascular supply. This helps get rid of
heat, like a radiator, like when you are playing basketball in the summer.
But it doesn't mean your brains are working any harder. The skull acts like
an insulator.

Jeff

The computer uses capacitor plates (2 parallel metal plates inserted in
a circuit to store information and data. The electric field beween the
capacitor plates "holds" this data.

In our mind, though there are to capacitors, something similar happens.
The nerve cells which are in a state of vibration, are prodigiously
"tuned" to the patterns of time (e.g. our exeriences form a particular
time pattern. (Have you notices how much difficult it is remember a
particular in isolation, but how easy i becomes when the whole sequence
of events before and after the incident is recalled.)

I suggest that the main energy requirement of the brain goes in the
perpetuation of these vibrations.

Jeff wrote:

"Prisoner at War" wrote in message
oups.com...

Jeff wrote:


Yet the brain only uses about 450 or so calories per day. If you're
thinking, you're not paying as much attention to visual stimulation,
auditory stimulation, etc. So while some neurons will burn more glucose,
other parts will burn less energy. I really doubt that heavy-duty
thinking
will result in enough additional calories to increase weight loss.

Jeff



So how about increased metabolism? Does increased metabolism mean more
calories being burnt? Does brain activity add to increased metabolism?

Increased metabolism means more calories being burned. However, I doubt it
means more calories burned inside your head.

I ask 'cause I'm a notorious sweat-hog -- but it really only occurs on
my forehead and around my neck! My feet, by comparison, seem to hardly
ever sweat.

Did you ever see a picture of someone with a small cut on his/her head, like
after a car crash? Small cut, but blood everywhere. The forehead and head
and neck, in general, have a rich vascular supply. This helps get rid of
heat, like a radiator, like when you are playing basketball in the summer.
But it doesn't mean your brains are working any harder. The skull acts like
an insulator.

Jeff