Does thinking burn calories?

Yes, every thought consumes energy. According to a study done by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information, despite representing only 2% of body weight, the brain promotes intense metabolic activity.

Especially active areas are the prefrontal and premotor lobe cortex, responsible for problem solving and movement planning, and the hippocampus in the temporal lobe, responsible for short-term memory. But the caloric burn is more related to the amount of time “thinking” than to the difficulty of reasoning. That is, a math exercise can burn fewer calories than writing in your journal.

As with other activities, burning via thought can vary according to several criteria. For example: young people’s brains burn more calories than old people’s. Who is more concentrated?O on the task, too. Another factor is the rate at which glucose is used to produce energy used in cognitive processes.

watercress zone

While it’s not possible to precisely define how many calories a thought is worth, you can estimate the caloric burn per hour. A sedentary person has an average energy expenditure of 1,300 calories per day. Of this total, the brain is responsible for 260. In other words, your brain uses about 10.8 calories (the equivalent of 100 g of watercress) per hour.

ACADEMY FOR WHAT?
Ordinary activities where you burn energy and don’t even notice

Watching TV: 72 kcal per hour
Attending class: 126 kcal per hour
Cooking: 168 kcal per hour
Type: 95 kcal per hour
Sleep: 60 kcal per hour
Talking on the phone: 85 kcal per hour
Playing video games: 108 kcal per hour
Playing cards: 105 kcal per hour
Taking a shower: 280 kcal per hour

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QUESTION Áurea Simões Netto, Angra dos Reis, RJ

CONSULTANCY Andre Felicio, neurologist at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein

SOURCES Websites Well-being It is Health and life

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