Men who want to reduce weight will want to get exposed to cold temperatures within the morning because it could help boost fat burning in them, a latest study has found.
The researchers behind the study learned that while men usually tend to burn fat when exposed to cold temperatures within the morning than within the evening, the identical thing will not be true for ladies.
The study focused on how cold exposure triggers the burning of brown adipose tissue or brown fat for temperature regulation and the burning of calories. Brown fat is a form of body fat that helps in regulating body temperature which gets activated right before an individual feels the shiver in cold temperature.
The researchers also evaluated if fat burning follows a circadian rhythm and the way the pattern differs in men and ladies.
“Our study indicates that the optimum time to undergo cold exposure is at a selected point within the body’s 24-hour cycle,” study co-author Mariëtte Boon from Leiden University Medical Center within the Netherlands said.
“It may be that there’s a sex difference in how the body responds to cold exposure with respect to boosting metabolism at a certain time point, and it seems that delivering cold exposure therapies within the morning could also be more useful than the evening for men,” Boon added.
The researchers are presenting the findings of the study on the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Dublin, Ireland this week.
In an initial study conducted in mice, researchers found that brown fat metabolic activity fluctuated throughout the day. The activity peaks just before waking up when the body needs to extend its core temperature and goes down at night.
The researchers then evaluated 24 lean participants comprised of men and ladies whose ages ranged between 18 and 31. Through the evaluation, the participants were made to rest on water-filled mattresses that were step by step cooled until the temperature reached 48 degrees Fahrenheit or after they felt a shiver. They were exposed to stable cold for 90 minutes afterward, and their energy expenditure and skin temperatures were measured.
Researchers found that men had significant differences within the morning while cold-induced energy expenditure and skin temperature didn’t differ much between the morning and the evening in women.
The researchers consider that the study is “a very important first step investigating the results of circadian rhythm on the results of cold exposure on (fat) metabolism.” Meanwhile, they are attempting to analyze if repeated bouts of cold exposure within the morning can improve cardiometabolic health in obese men.
“On the very least, our findings indicate that administering interventions at specific times needs to be considered when targeting lipid metabolism,” Boon added.
A person runs along the canal within the snow in south Dublin, Ireland November 28, 2010. Freezing temperatures were recorded across the country after heavy overnight snowfalls, local media reported.
REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
Published by Medicaldaily.com