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Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly

Posted Sep 5, 08 12:50 PM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Does thinking make us fat? Researchers say that intellectual activity just might cause us to pig out, LiveScience reports. Volunteers who performed a series of problem-solving tasks in a study consumed almost 30% more calories afterward than those who just sat around and took it easy. One theory: The body demands food to restore glucose depleted by the stress of thinking.

"This is a factor that should not be ignored, considering that more and more people hold jobs of an intellectual nature," said one researcher.

Source LiveScience

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Volunteers in a recent study who performed intellectual tasks consumed almost 30% more calories than those who just rested.   (Flickr)
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Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact that we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic. - Jean-Philippe Chaput, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada

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