Do I burn more calories in the cold or in the heat? (and it's not that easy!)?

Question

In the cold my body has to burn more calories to keep me warm, but my basal metabolic rate decreases as my body "hunkers down" for survival. In the warm my body loses calories trying to keep me cool and my basal metabolic rate increases. But which burns more? Would I burn more calories sitting in a sauna or sitting in a cold room (assuming I sit still and do nothing)?

Answer 1

actually you have already answered your question. being in a warmer room, your metabolic rate is increased thus burning more calories and release heat (and eventually cool off your body). On the contrary, in a cooler room, your metabolic rate is decreased because your body wants to CONSERVE ITS ENERGY (and HEAT!) thus you burn LESS calories especially if you just sit and do nothing. therefore, the principle behind being in a sauna to lose weight still stands.

Answer 2

Keeping your core temperature normal in cold would tend to consume more calories than trying to keep cool in a hot room. The reason for this is that heat transfer is a passive process, more or less, you sweat and use evaporative cooling. You aren't using much glucose to mantain this process.
Arctic conditions require more calories just to maintain basal metabolic rate. Only when your core temp drops does your body 'hunker down'. That is aprecursor to dangerous hypothermia.
You burn more in the cold just to survive because you require glucose stores to keep the temp up to maintain basic physiologic functions. Warming the air you breath burns calories, shivering burns calories. You have to keep the core temp within a narrow range otherwise the cellular processes of your body start to go haywire, enzymes don't like the cold.
Notice that people from equatorial populations as a rule do not maintain a lot of body fat (the Zulu and Massai come to mind), wherease arctic peoples tend to be short, and plumper.

Answer 3

Well true, but not significantly so. The problem with this idea is that the water is mostly heated through ambient processes. In other words, the contents of your stomach are already heated, and most of the heating occurs from that. You might burn an additional 5 calories drinking super cold water, and that is it.

Answer 4

Well, the restriction on the question is the answer. If you are sitting still doing nothing, then why should the world expend food on your uselessness?
If you want to burn calories, you should be out in the cold cutting firewood or shoveling snow. That way, you keep your metabolism from going dormant and you do something useful.

Answer 5

they did this experiment on Brainiac- I think the correct answer is the cold is more effective at burning calories. I think another evidence of this is if you holiday somewhere hot, you don't feel like eating as much, and certainly not the heavy car rich stuff. If you go somewhere cold you crave all those calories...

Answer 6

you burn more calories in the heat, but many other questions come at hand. For example: metabolism, diet, what kind of activity you are performing and what kind of temperature your body is experimenting.

Answer 7

The cold would stimulate thermogenesis more, causing increased caloric consumption. In the short term, BMR is unaffected.

Answer 8

heat cuz u sweat more which makes ur bosy loose electrolytes then u drink water to replace the lost fluid , which reverses the stimulus to the body (and works with homeostasis) , this making one loose more calories in hot enviroments

Answer 9

I had two rabbits to feed and they ate more in cold weather.