Thinking Too Hard Makes You Fat

Posted by Alex in Medicine, Science & Tech on September 13, 2008 at 8:33 am


Don’t think too hard … it can make you fat! A new study led by Angelo Tremblay of Laval University, Quebec, suggests that people tend to overeat after an onerous mental activity:

Jean-Philippe Chaput, the study’s main author, said: "These fluctuations may be caused by the stress of intellectual work, or also reflect a biological adaptation during glucose combustion."

The body could be reacting to these fluctuations by spurring food intake in order to restore its glucose balance, the only fuel used by the brain.

Mr Chaput added: "Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialised countries.

"This is a factor that should not be ignored, considering that more and more people hold jobs of an intellectual nature."

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COMMENT

10 comments to "Thinking Too Hard Makes You Fat"

  1. Scotchdrnkr
    September 13th, 2008 at 8:52 am

    Could this have more to do with the fact that jobs of the more intellectual nature usually involve sitting in one place for extended periods of time. Thus they don't exercise & they can eat while doing their jobs.

  2. Tim Giachetti
    September 13th, 2008 at 10:02 am

    And Glandular? Maybe due an injury and medication use?

    Or just a Dorito eating cheese fingered Jerry Springer\Maury Povich addict.

    The world may never know.

  3. Ashley
    September 13th, 2008 at 10:18 am

    People smart enough to have intellectual jobs should be smart enough to get off their asses once in awhile and hit the gym. This is just lazy people trying to validate their obesity by saying "it's because I'm an intellectual!" Google pictures of "research team" or similar. Most of them are normal, some are overweight or thin, but none of them are obese.

  4. Christophe
    September 13th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    I look much more clever now :D

  5. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    September 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    Oh, come on. You don't see many obese geniuses out there.

  6. Clinton
    September 13th, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    NICE B.I.F.
    B.I.F.= butt in the front. hahahahaha

  7. intertubularization
    September 13th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

    Um, if this theory were true, most of the U.S. citizenship would be positively emaciated, (judging by the last two elections.)

  8. meghan
    September 14th, 2008 at 8:55 am

    I tend to agree that being obese has nothing to do with being intellectual...yes, after a long period of hard thinking you can feel very hungry, and yes a lot of people work "intellectual" jobs, but intelligence should extend beyond the workplace.
    I myself am fairly overweight (though nowhere near that photo, thank God), and know it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm going to school in a difficult field. Saying that "Oh, I get hungry because I study so much, and because I study so much I have no time to work out!" would be so much easier, and it's what most people do. Sure, I have limited free time, and I choose to use that time being with friends instead of at the gym, and it's why I'm overweight.

    What I really don't understand is why everyone keeps searching for more and more excuses for obesity when although there are genetic predispositions, the vast majority of obese people are simply sedentary over-eaters. Spend the money getting good habits kicked into kids at a young age instead of finding more excuses for perfectly cognizant adults who should know better!

  9. concerned
    September 14th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    That is a ridiculous way to interpret and package this study. The headline is incendiary, designed to grab attention. Thinking does not make you fat, and it really doesn't read like that's what they were even trying to study. How much you think might be related to how much you eat, but there's no reason that would make you fat. Lack of exercise and food choices make a difference, among other things. The way scientific studies are presented in the media is usually faulty. What do you want to bet that the Telegraph doesn't have a science editor on staff?

  10. dl
    September 14th, 2008 at 7:42 pm

    Fat: Caused by thinking too much?? Think I'll have another Twinkie.


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