Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) and Obesity

I just finished reading and interesting article on the latest finding in Obesity research. I seems that researchers are finally finding solutions for managing the obesity epidemic in America and the rest of the world.

Researchers all agree that exercise is an important facet of our daily lives, and unquestionably good for you, however it may not be enough. A question comes up; What happens to the body when you are not exercising?

How can it be that some people in this obesity prone world can eat and still remain thin?
Researchers took lean and obese individuals who classified themselves as couch potatoes and who never worked out in a gym.
All subjects were overfed 1000 calories a day above the body weight maintenance needs. For example if you required 3000 calories per day to keep your weight stable, your calories would be bumped up to 4000 calories per day. This was done for a 8 week period then researchers carefully examined where the excess fuel deposited itself.

Researchers fitted test subjects with magical underwear and monitored every movement and every posture of the body. It was found that test subjects who switched on their NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) don't gain fat when overfed, whereas those who could not turn on their NEAT gainer 10 pounds on average. Thus was concluded that NEAT was crucial in keeping weight off.

NEAT is defined as all other movements outside of exercise such as walking , talking, toe tapping, guitar playing, dancing or shopping. Researchers found that obese move 2.5 hours less per day than lean people. Which equates to 350 calories expended per day! What all this means is that society as a whole needs to be moving move and spend less time sitting around at the office, watching TV etc. If you watch TV you only burn 5 calories an hour above your metabolic rate. After 4 hours of vegetating you have only burned 20 calories!

The good news is there are numerous solutions to this problem which will be discussed in future posting. To begin with make an attempt to walk around the office more, spend time walking after dinner and less time in front of the TV. And most of all attempt to get in 60 minutes of exercise 4 days per week, to keep your mind and body healthy and strong.
For more information on health and fitness check out www.somagenesis.com or call 760-271-3064