By Briana Hayes
Staff Writer

A few extra weeks of colder weather may not be that bad. A recent study published in “Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism,” suggests that keeping your body at a cooler temperature could help with weight loss.

This study has been taking place for more than a decade and its conclusion is that people burn more calories when regularly exposed to colder temperatures.

Researchers wanted to determine the effects of indoor temperatures on our health due to the large amount of time people spend inside. The result is quite unexpected.

The idea behind many weight loss machines or methods is the more you sweat the more calories you burn. Examples of this include hot yoga and saunas. Some hot yoga classes occur in temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

After a decade of work on the subject, researchers discovered that mildly cold temperatures are actually more beneficial to weight loss. In 2009, Scientists found brown adipose tissue in human adults; previously, “brown fat” was only thought to exist in infants.

Brown fat is different from the white fat that is associated with overweight people and obesity. Leaner people tend to have more brown fat and when it is stimulated it can burn calories.

The amount of brown fat a person has decreases as a person ages, but brown fat is still used as a method for keeping warm. During the colder months, brown fat is more active and more plentiful in individuals.

In order to keep warm, brown fat plays a part in nonshivering thermogenesis. This is a type of heat production that the body undergoes but does not involve the act of shivering.

Since brown fat and nonshivering thermogenesis are related, it was found in the study that this form of heat production is weakened in obese individuals and the elderly due to lack of brown fat.

The study’s lead author Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt and his team performed their research through a 10-day period that involved a “cold acclimation period.”

The participants spent six hours a day in a room that was at 59 degrees. As the days went on, the participants shivered less and became adjusted to the cold.

While the shivering declined, the nonshivering thermogenesis increased and thus their brown fat activity also increased. The brown fat activity increase allows for an increase in energy expenditure.

The researchers formed the conclusion that varying the indoor temperature and allowing your body to adjust can increase energy expenditure. This is a small adjustment but every small adjustment over time will make a larger impact.

While white fat is still more plentiful in the body than brown fat and is still needed for functions such as hormone production, brown fat can increase calorie burning.