the students consumed 203 more calories after reading

A lot on your mind recently? If so you had better be careful because a new research project shows that the simple act of thinking too much could mean that you start to eat too much and you become obese. The researchers from the Universite Laval of Quebec, Canada observed that the stress associated with intellectually challenging tasks resulted in a set of volunteers eating more than usual.

The researchers got fourteen volunteer students to undertake a number of varied tasks which were relaxing, reading and analysing a simple text and lastly conducting memory tests. Immediately after the tasks they were taken to eat and the results clearly showed that the more taxing mental activity resulted in a greater amount of calories being consumed after. For example they noted that the students consumed 203 more calories after reading and analysing the text and 253 extra calories after doing the memory tests.

The researchers noted that only an extra three calories were needed for doing the mentally taxing work and so the extra calorie increase could not be put down to a need for more energy to replenish stores. Interestingly when blood samples were taken before, during and when the sessions were over they saw that levels of glucose and insulin were significantly increased when doing the mental exercises.

The researchers said that this shows the importance of glucose as a “fuel” for the brain to work effectively and that the calorie overcompensation after thinking could be contributing to the problems that some people have with their weight. Another observation was that when people are thinking they tend to be sedentary and therefore they are not burning off calories. If you have a desk job that is mentally taxing you should be aware of what you eat and try to get exercise to burn off excess calories.