Ants in your pants - fidgeting for weight loss

Why fidgeting could be the secret to weight loss.

Fidgeting could be why some people don't gain weight--even when they overeat, according to the Mayo Research Clinic. Researchers James Levine, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, Michael Jensen, M.D., and Norman Eberhardt, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic's Endocrine Research Unit, studied 16 people who overate for two months, tracking their fat storage process. They found the key factor in predicting fat gain was the difference in the amount of calories burned during normal daily activities-fidgeting, moving around, changing posture, etc. They labeled this factor NEAT (nonexercise activity thermogenesis).

"Those with the greatest increase in NEAT gained less fat than those with less increase," says Levine. "When people overeat, NEAT activates in some people to 'waste' this excess energy," Jensen says. "Conversely, the failure to switch this on allows the calories to be stored as fat. This study suggests that efforts to activate NEAT, perhaps through behavioral cues, may help prevent obesity."

Fat gains occur when the intake of energy (calories) exceeds the energy-burned. The three main factors involved in calorie-burning are:

* Basal metabolic rate (BMR)--burning of energy when the body is at rest

* Postprandial thermogenesis--energy burned in digestion, absorption and storage of food in the body

* Physical activity--comprised of exercise (sports and fitness activities) and NEAT.

Researchers measured the contributions of each of these factors in the participants' total daily energy expenditure. For the first two weeks of the study, participants were fed the dietary elements necessary to maintain a stable body weight. For the next eight weeks, they were fed an additional 1,000 calories daily. Participants were also limited to low levels of monitored exercise.

Using sophisticated techniques, they were able to precisely measure the fate of the additional 1,000 calories in each subject. Overall, they found the following:

Fate of Extra 1,000 Calories:

Deposited as fat: 39%

Deposited as other body tissue: 4%

Burned by BMR: 8%

Postprandial thermogenesis: 14%

Burned by NEAT: 33%

The 16 volunteers gained an average of 10 pounds during the two months of the study. However, weight gain varied from two pounds to almost 16 pounds. Those with the greatest increase in NEAT (maximum number of calories burned per day: 692) gained the least amount of fat.

The moral of the story is:

If you want to avoid extra body fat, move around like a little child with ants in his/her pants. Constant fidgeting could be the secret to weight loss revealed by top medical researchers.

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