Can you prevent fat gain (and cellulite) by using your brain more? Part I

Can you lose fat and cellulite just by studying hard?

Recently, I had a conversation with a client who had read somewhere that the brain consumes about 20% of our daily energy intake. This client in question is a PhD student and does indeed use her brain a lot, studying for several hours a day, and insists that studying hard is what keeps her weight down. Given that she hates exercise and loves sweets this seems to be a very convenient and attractive theory for her, as if true it would allow her to avoid exercise, eat whatever she likes and then burn the extra calories by studying hard - and gaining a PhD in the process! However, this theory is not backed up by any evidence, except perhaps this specific clients' apparent slimness. On the other hand, the cellulite on her legs (the reason for which she came to see me in the first place) indicate that there is a serious fault with her theory... So, given that lot of women seem to be confused about this matter I will try to elucidate the connections between brain activity, fat loss and cellulite, and put the myth to rest once and for all!

Brain energy consumption - as compared to muscle, fat and heart energy consumption

The fact is that the brain does consume 22% of our daily caloric intake, which is a substantial amount of energy, equivalent to about 400 calories per day (assuming that a typical woman consumes about 1800 calories per day). This is exactly the amount of energy consumed by all muscles of entire body on a normal day when exercise is not performed (22%), and also practically the same to the energy consumption of the liver, the body’s chemical powerhouse (21%). This is to be compared to the energy consumption of the fat tissue (4%; yes, the fat tissue does burn fat, it just does not burn enough to lead to it’s own demise...) and to that of the heart (9%) and kidneys (8%).

The brain is indeed an energy-hungry organ. Scientists propose that the brain's lust for calories drove us to seek energy-dense diets based on meat (in addition to vegetarian food), as opposed to the strict vegetarian diet of our ancestors, which did not provide enough energy for the brain. Or, vice-versa, some paleoanthropologists claim, the availability of energy-dense animal food has led to the increase in brain size and the development of modern human, Homo sapiens sapiens. In any case, although the brain does consume a whole lot of energy, not all of this energy is used for conscious thinking. A lot of this energy is used to regulate the various systems of the body and keep the existing knowledge intact, in much the same way a computer continually uses battery power to keep RAM-memory data intact and prevent their loss.

Therefore, an increase in mental activity (i.e. studying) by 50% will not translate to 50% more brain energy consumption, i.e. this extra mental effort will not make our brain burn 600 calories per day instead of 400 calories. The difference is more likely to be +10%~20% brain energy consumption (nobody knows the exact amount), i.e. a more modest +40~80 calories per day. In contrast, a 30’-minute running session will lead to the oxidation (burning) of an extra 200-300 calories, depending on the individual.

Go to Part II of this article