2006-12-11 21:58:45 · 15 answers · asked by ? 6 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
You do burn a considerable amount of calories to maintain your body temperature and to warm and humidify the air you breathe in cold weather to keep your lungs happy. But I don't know how this compares to the calories needed to keep you cool from hot weather, so I can't really answer your question in that sense.
But if by cold, you mean shivering then the answer is absolutely. Shivering burns quite a few calories (my only source to give a number says it's as much as 400 calories an hour). And , for example, the Army increases the calorie rations by 25-50% in cold weather. (This is also because of increased calories burned by things like wearing heavy clothing and trudging through snow.)
It's not a great idea for a diet plan though. Exposure to cold while dieting increases the chances of hypothermia, your body needs fuel.
2006-12-11 22:23:21 · answer #1 · answered by bygoneincognito 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to this month's Runner's World magazine, the answer is a surprising No. There is very little difference between calorie burn between cold / warm weather.
I was surprised about this too but when it comes down to exercising the answer appears to be no.
However, I have read in the past that cold weather exercising does tend to use more fat calories to exercise than glycogen. This is good because it thereotically means that you are likely to lose fat by exercising during the winter.
Also, if there were an additional calorie burn from cold versus normal room temperature, I would suspect the difference would be minimal (not worth mentioning)...
Good luck and check out the magazine (January issue I believe)
2006-12-12 07:29:31 · answer #2 · answered by mchenryeddie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Your body works to keep itself at a constant temperature. Cold forces it to burn calories to keep the heat higher. Military units issue extra rations in a cold weather environment to provide the additional calories.
2006-12-12 06:05:23 · answer #3 · answered by Aggie80 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you do. Being cold speeds up your basic metabolic rate to stop you dying of cold and this uses up energy and therefore calories are expended. In hot weather your metabolism slows to prevent over heating which is why you don't feel as hungry in summertime and will often eat a lighter meal.
2006-12-12 06:08:35 · answer #4 · answered by monkeymanelvis 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, if you shiver. The shivering mechanism is specifically designed to raise your body heat by burning calories within the cells.
2006-12-12 06:28:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, the body uses calories to shiver which helps keep the body warm.
2006-12-12 06:15:08 · answer #6 · answered by Sunseeker 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes because your body has to burn calories to warm you up
2006-12-12 07:25:27 · answer #7 · answered by Sexyeyez_666 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
well, if you move about more to get yourself warm then yes
2006-12-12 06:02:04 · answer #8 · answered by zanoshi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-12-12 06:01:16 · answer #9 · answered by michael s 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
yes.The laws of thermodynamics explain it all
2006-12-12 06:19:11 · answer #10 · answered by P-nuts and Hair-dos 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋