The Cold Diet

We hear about calories everywhere we turn these days. Everyone has their own perspective on how to minimize intake and maximize the amount of these calories that we burn. What if we didn’t have to eat less or exercise more to curb our net calorie gain, but rather simply adjust the temperature of our food?

So if we think back to the chemistry classroom for a second…1 calorie is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. The key word in there is energy, and our bodies have to come up with that energy to heat up the water and food we eat in order to maintain the homeostatic temperature. This “warm-blooded” necessity can be exploited by making the body work harder by eating and drinking colder foods.

One 16 ounce glass of ice-cold water has to be heated to 37 degrees Celsius, and in the process the body burns about 17,000 calories—this equates to 17 Calories (kilocalories) in food terms. While in the grand scheme of things that isn’t pivotal, it can mean doing a couple less sit-ups at the gym or taking the elevator instead of those inconvenient stairs.

Once you start to eat all of your meals straight out of the freezer, you can see how all of those extra calories burned can quickly add up. The concept revolutionary: the instant gratification of seeing quick results, without having to compromise one’s lifestyle or eating habits.

So the next time you reach for that TV dinner, skip the microwave and let your body do the work.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm