Air Conditioning Make You Fat

AyaAEtman

Surely keeping cool can't be making me fatter!" We thought the same thing. But, we were wrong (and fat) again.
The body has to burn energy to maintain its temperature. Make it too cold or too hot, and the body has to burn calories to adjust. But put the body in a room that's 72 degrees all the time, and those processes don't run. No energy is burned and no calories are spent.


Source : http://www.cracked.com/article_16708_6-your-favorite-things-that-are-secretly-making-you-fat.html
Another Sources :http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/does-air-conditioning-make-you-fat.aspx and http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=2120381&page=1#.T9MnA7Atj1M

Do I have To believe This !?

RedWeb

Do I have To believe This !?

No.

roachhaley

lol
yeah. its definitely not the two packs of bagel bites for dinner

kjerstenkipp

Ridiculous!

RedWeb

I suppose if you want to believe it is true then put on a jumper.

oneoddsock

Perhaps your body doesn't have to burn calories to regulate temperature, but you're still using them to move, talk, think, breathe, etc. Even if you're in a hot or cold place, I can't imagine the calories burnt from maintaining your core temperature are anything near what you'd burn off if you went for a ten-minute walk. It's not the air-conditioning that's making you fat - it's the excess of food and lack of exercise!

C00lCountry

I have read about burning extra calories in winter to maintain your body temp.
I am not so sure about the summer cause seems if you burned the calories it would only make you hotter.
Either way you burn a certain amount to maintain your life.

AyaAEtman

Ok Thank You ^.^
I can't live without it these days

WillPowerYes

The articles are saying that the temperature of a room could perhaps affect a portion of the calories you burn. Too hot or too cold, and your body expends [usually just a few] extra calories to compensate.

But we need to remember that our bodies burn a certain number of calories just to function. NO MATTER WHAT THE TEMPERATURE, it takes calories to breathe, digest food, move about, etc.

Check out the American Cancer Society site, and you'll see that [for example] a 130 lb female who is sedentary takes 1773 calories a day just to maintain her weight. Just being alive uses calories.

http://www.cancer.org/healthy/toolsandcalculators/calculators/app/calorie-counter-calculator

Thanks for bringing up an interesting question.

samf36

could care less if I burn less calories with the ac on I want to be comfortable in my day to day life. I need to be able to sleep and function and I do not do well when it is too warn and humid. I tend to prefer winter temps.

tpittsley77

Please consider the SOURCES of these articles. Cracked.com and some blog. They do not sound like trustworthy sites for true medical information. Just because its online, doesn't make it true!!! And if you do believe everything you read online, you are in trouble!

SassyCalyGirl

lol
yeah. its definitely not the two packs of bagel bites for dinner

winner

XXXMinnieXXX

This sounds ridiculous imo x

Aperture_Science

If AC was making us fat we'd ALL be fat. In my office there is a range of fat and thin people... all sitting under the same AC units.

amyy902

lol... when its 42 degrees c im sorry but but the ac is going on, because thats just silly. you cant move if its too hot anyway so its all going to ballance out anyway!!

42kgirl

Given the options of fat and comfortable or thin and sweating like a *kitten* in church, I would go fat and comfortable. I live in Georgia and if I had no A/C (and it went in September of 2008 during a heat wave, so I know) I would get so hot that even blinking my eyes would be too much effort.

victoria4321

I think its really due to the fact that air conditioning makes you want to sit on your *kitten* and watch tv all day when its 99 degrees F outside.

42kgirl

I think its really due to the fact that air conditioning makes you want to sit on your *kitten* and watch tv all day when its 99 degrees F outside.

Actually, no. It makes the house comfortable enough to get on the treadmill.

ElizabethRoad

OK, maybe you do burn a few extra calories regulating your body temperature. It's not going to be significant. But more importantly, all that means is that you require a few less calories to maintain your weight - it's still calories in vs. calories out. Don't make it so complicated.

Di3012

Surely keeping cool can't be making me fatter!" We thought the same thing. But, we were wrong (and fat) again.
The body has to burn energy to maintain its temperature. Make it too cold or too hot, and the body has to burn calories to adjust. But put the body in a room that's 72 degrees all the time, and those processes don't run. No energy is burned and no calories are spent.


Source : http://www.cracked.com/article_16708_6-your-favorite-things-that-are-secretly-making-you-fat.html
Another Sources :http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/does-air-conditioning-make-you-fat.aspx and http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=2120381&page=1#.T9MnA7Atj1M

Do I have To believe This !?

No, it is silly. Actually, a lot of stuff is getting ridiculous.

The only things that make a person fat is eating/drinking too many calories and not being active enough to burn them off.

Calories talked about above are negligible.

42kgirl

I heard if you stand on your head and drink ketchup you burn more calories. Oh wait, that's to prevent pregnancy.

NoAdditives

Please consider the SOURCES of these articles. Cracked.com and some blog. They do not sound like trustworthy sites for true medical information. Just because its online, doesn't make it true!!! And if you do believe everything you read online, you are in trouble!

While I agree with this, Cracked does actually cite their (generally reliable) sources. They don't just make stuff up. And, their info has proven to be extremely useful in at least one real life situation recently in which my husband killed a rattlesnake (that was in our front yard) and he knew to stay away from it's head even after it was dead because they have heat sensors that can make them bite. After they're dead. So, I am very thankful for Cracked and their interesting articles.

arewethereyet

I guess if this were true, every person in my neck of the woods would be fat.

AC is on 24/7 in South Florida. There may be a few months in Jan/Feb if we are lucky, where the windows are open and free cool air blows. Most of the time it is regulated by my little gauge

75-79 is the norm, and I like it cold. Some friends are at the 74 mark all the time, others at the 79-80 mark. I do not see a pattern in their weight. As a matter of fact, the one girl I know who is always at 72 is the tiniest of all, and so are her daughters.

My first thought was that this article was going to say it keeps us inside, and away from being active out of doors. THIS I could believe. There are days I go from apt to car to work and then in reverse, never to go out side for longer than 5 minutes. Like last week when it was 98!

:flowerforyou:

ElizabethRoad

While I agree with this, Cracked does actually cite their (generally reliable) sources. They don't just make stuff up. And, their info has proven to be extremely useful in at least one real life situation recently in which my husband killed a rattlesnake (that was in our front yard) and he knew to stay away from it's head even after it was dead because they have heat sensors that can make them bite. After they're dead. So, I am very thankful for Cracked and their interesting articles.

They do cite their sources and their info is very often accurate. But be sure you don't rely on it without checking the sources yourself. It is a comedy website first and foremost, and they sometimes bend or exaggerate the facts to suit that purpose.

victoria4321

I think its really due to the fact that air conditioning makes you want to sit on your *kitten* and watch tv all day when its 99 degrees F outside.

Actually, no. It makes the house comfortable enough to get on the treadmill.

That's if you actually enjoy running in place like a rodent on a wheel. I have a treadmill, but there has to be a hurricane or crazy heatwave to make me want to run inside. Even then I'll never get as good of a workout :frown:

calliope_music

if that was true, i would have been a stick growing up because we didn't have AC.

ninerbuff

FACT: You are ALWAYS burning calories throughout the day whether sitting on the couch or running outside. Why do you think BMR exists?
What makes you fat is eating more than you burn. That is also a fact.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

CRody44

But put the body in a room that's 72 degrees all the time, and those processes don't run. No energy is burned and no calories are spent.

That's why I set my AC to 68F.

42kgirl

I think its really due to the fact that air conditioning makes you want to sit on your *kitten* and watch tv all day when its 99 degrees F outside.

Actually, no. It makes the house comfortable enough to get on the treadmill.

That's if you actually enjoy running in place like a rodent on a wheel. I have a treadmill, but there has to be a hurricane or crazy heatwave to make me want to run inside. Even then I'll never get as good of a workout :frown:

I never said it was super awesome, but it's better than not moving because it's too hot outside. I am not a rodent on a wheel. I just don't enjoy heat stroke.

WillPowerYes

KUDOS to everyone who finds a way to do EXERCISE, be it running on a treadmill, taking an exercise class, jogging in place in their living room, running outside, anything! Keep up the good work and benefit from your form of exercise.

BostonMatt

Jeez, and all this time I thought it was the fried food, beer, extra carbs and fat I was eating. Silly me.