Thinking Burns Calories?

It is amazing what our brain can do. Emma Bryce, a Live Science Contributor, explains how calories are burned by the brain when thinking. Whoever thought you could burn energy when we put our mind to the test!

The experience of burning calories isn’t just limited to the physical effects of various games. Even chess can cause profound weight loss if the person is a real serious competitor. The elite player can burn up to an estimated 6,000 calories in one day without even moving from their seats.

Does this mean the brain is responsible for this massive uptake of energy and that thinking harder is a simple way to lose weight? When our body is not engaged in an activity other than breathing, digesting and keeping warm, we know the brain uses up a startling 20% to 25% of the body’s overall energy in the form of glucose. This means about 350-450 calories per day for the average man or woman. The brain is hungry! In a 5 to 6-year-old the brain can use upwards of 60% of the body’s energy, according to Doug Boyer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology from Duke University. This makes our brains the most energy-expensive organ in our body but only makes up to 2% of the body’s weight.

The brain never really rests and still requires fuel when sleeping to keep firing off signals between cells to maintain the body’s functions. When we are only 5 or 6 and building a brain, they scarf up almost three times the amount of energy that our adult brains need. Actually, since the brain is such an energy-guzzler, the more we put this organ to work, the more energy it slurps up for us to burn.

When training to learn something new, the brain adapts to increase energy transfer in whatever regions are activated by the training. Over time the brain no longer has to work as hard to accomplish a particular task and therefore requires less energy.

However, if you think deep thinking will burn off a sugary snack, forget it! The energy required just to think harder is comparatively tiny. A lot of the activity is unrelated to the conscious activities like learning how to sing or play the guitar. When learning new things or new activities, the amount of energy going into that new activity is rather small compared to the rest of the brain’s overall energy consumption.

Under intense pressure, it can cause stress, which leads to an elevated heart rate, faster breathing, and sweating. Together these effects burn calories. Stage performers and musicians might also experience energy-loss since they are under high-stress and have disrupted eating schedules.

Just remember, thinking alone won’t make you slim, and neither will that extra square of chocolate, but it sure will taste good!

Dr Fredda Branyon