Calories Burnt Research Articles

The energy expenditure of stair climbing one step and two steps at a time: estimations from measures of heart rate.

Stairway climbing provides a ubiquitous and inconspicuous method of burning calories. While typically two strategies are employed for climbing stairs, climbing one stair step per stride or two steps per stride, research to date has not clarified if there are any differences in energy expenditure between them. Fourteen participants took part in two stair climbing trials whereby measures of heart rate were used to estimate energy expenditure during stairway ascent at speeds chosen by the participants. The relationship between rate of oxygen consumption () and heart rate was calibrated for each participant using an inclined treadmill. The trials involved climbing up and down a 14.05 m high stairway, either ascending one step per stride or ascending two stair steps per stride. Single-step climbing used 8.5±0.1 kcal min−1, whereas double step climbing used 9.2±0.1 kcal min−1. These estimations are similar to equivalent measures in all previous studies, which have all directly measured The present study findings indicate that (1) treadmill-calibrated heart rate recordings can be used as a valid alternative to respirometry to ascertain rate of energy expenditure during stair climbing; (2) two step climbing invokes a higher rate of energy expenditure; however, one step climbing is energetically more expensive in total over the entirety of a stairway. Therefore to expend the maximum number of calories when climbing a set of stairs the single-step strategy is better.

Eletrolipólise por meio da estimulação nervosa elétrica transcutânea (Tens) na região abdominal em pacientes sedentárias e ativas

INTRODUÇÃO:A eletrolipólise é uma técnica destinada ao tratamento de acúmulo de tecido adiposo localizado em determinadas regiões. Sua aplicação ocorre por meio de pares de agulhas de acupuntura no tecido subcutâneo, ligadas a uma corrente de baixa frequência. Essa estimulação elétrica provoca diversas modificações fisiológicas no adipócito, dentre elas o incremento do fluxo sanguíneo local, aumento do metabolismo celular e queima de calorias. OBJETIVOS:Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da eletrolipólise na redução de gordura localizada na região infra-abdominal, em pacientes que praticam atividade física e nas sedentárias. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS:As pacientes na faixa etária dos 18 aos 30 anos, sexo feminino, foram submetidas à avaliação em que foi medido o índice de massa corpórea (IMC) e a razão cintura/quadril (C/Q). Com uma fita métrica foi realizada a perimetria de cintura (abaixo da última costela), da crista ilíaca, 5 cm e 10 cm acima da crista ilíaca. Foram realizadas 20 sessões, sendo duas vezes por semana, com oito agulhas de acupuntura conectadas a um aparelho de estimulação transcutânea de corrente de baixa frequência (Tens). RESULTADOS: Foi observada a redução de medidas do tecido adiposo em ambos os grupos, havendo maior notoriedade no grupo das sedentárias. CONCLUSÃO:Apesar da significativa perda de tecido adiposo neste estudo, os resultados não foram expressivos pela desistência das voluntárias no decorrer do tratamento, sendo esse um ponto bastante dificultoso do trabalho, que deveria ter permanecido com as 26 pacientes.

Carbon Incentive for Human Energy

This work brings out the global framework for health related food taxes in the process of analysing the impact of yoga in reducing food consumption, reducing healthcare expenditure, developing human capabilities and in improving the performance in education. Two extremes states, overeating and disciplined consumption, are analysed for exhaustive list of activating factors for excessive consumption. For this purpose, excessive consumption is analysed to understand the temptation through the framework used for disciplined consumption. The business behaviour of inducing food consumption by facilitating consumption experience is called tickling food consumption. With the change of responsibility for food preparation shifting from family to business interest resulting in product engineering, a product may have one or more tickling factors which are summarised and a tickle tax is proposed to regulate each or all of the identified tickling factors. On the operational side, it is proposed that various capabilities developed by the yoga practitioners be measured under capability approach for human development to enable co-operation between health and human resource development efforts while invoking of Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) provisions would provide finance for prevention in the countries where there is no such law. The Carbon incentive for food energy, a performance based incentive mechanism, may simplify the global health governance efforts with the incentive being fixed for the environmental impact and for the reduced demand for the public health efforts. The incentive for the reduction in food consumption would be a shift from the view that physical activity merely burn calories.

Promoting Routine Stair Use: Evaluating the Impact of a Stair Prompt Across Buildings

Although studies have demonstrated that stair prompts are associated with increased physical activity, many were conducted in low-rise buildings over a period of weeks and did not differentiate between stair climbing and descent. This study evaluated the impact of a prompt across different building types, and on stair climbing versus descent over several months. In 2008-2009, stair and elevator trips were observed and analyzed at three buildings in New York City before and after the posting of a prompt stating "Burn Calories, Not Electricity" (total observations=18,462). Sites included a three-story health clinic (observations=4987); an eight-story academic building (observations=5151); and a ten-story affordable housing site (observations=8324). Stair and elevator trips up and down were recorded separately at the health clinic to isolate the impact on climbing and descent. Follow-up was conducted at the health clinic and affordable housing site to assess long-term impact. Increased stair use was seen at all sites immediately after posting of the prompt (range=9.2%-34.7% relative increase, p<0.001). Relative increases in stair climbing (20.2% increase, p<0.001) and descent (4.4% increase, p<0.05) were seen at the health clinic. At both sites with long-term follow-up, relative increases were maintained at 9 months after posting compared to baseline: 42.7% (p<0.001) increase in stair use at the affordable housing site and 20.3% (p<0.001) increase in stair climbing at the health clinic. Findings suggest that the prompt was effective in increasing physical activity in diverse settings, and increases were maintained at 9 months.

Intelligent Control System of Stack-boiler

Boiler combustion control system's basic task is to make fuel burn calories adapt to the needs of the water temperature and ensure the economical combustion and the safe operation. In the foundations which have analyzed the stack-boiler's work process and control system structure, the system designed by using the self-learning and self-optimizing fuzzy control system of the PC to make air/coal ratio achieve the best and realize the optimized combustion; through PLC to accelerate the speed of response to the boiler, and speed up the PC to optimize the speed and realize the double loop control system for stack-boiler. The control system in premise of the stack-boiler reaches the goal of the load to achieve the highest efficiency of the boiler combustion.

Eating Habits, Physical Activity, Consumption of Substances and Eating Disorders in Adolescents

The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences between adolescents with a high or low risk of developing an eating disorder (ED) in different health behaviors (eating habits, physical activity and the consumption of substances) per gender. The EAT-40 and the Inventory of Behavioral Health in Scholars were applied to 2142 middle school students from Alicante (Spain), of whom 52.8% were girls and 47.2% were boys, with an average age of 13.92 years old (Sd = 1.34). Results indicated that girls with a high risk of developing an ED consumed fewer meals, ate fewer unhealthy foods, followed more diets and paid more attention to nutritional components. Furthermore, they also performed more physical activity with the objective of losing weight, and consumed more tobacco, alcohol and medicines. Boys at high risk of developing an ED followed more diets and paid more attention to nutritional components. For boys, no more differences were found. These results suggest that any program directed at the prevention of ED should not only include nutritional education, but should also seek to promote regular physical activity with objectives other than weight loss or the burning of calories.

Keep your cool: burn calories

Keep your cool: burn calories

The Ethics of Swimming Pools

My job was simple: Write an essay reviewing four exciting books--two on the general topic of health care justice, and two on health care policy. 1,103 pages of scholarly discourse, and what did I find myself thinking about? Swimming pools, of course. I take care of patients within the Veterans' Administration system. Most of them have limited financial means and suffer from multiple chronic illnesses. Virtually all would be better off if they exercised regularly. I urge many of my patients to take walks, but a large number of them cannot follow this advice. Some live in unsafe neighborhoods. Some have physical problems that limit their ability to walk. Swimming pools are one of their best exercise options. But do you know how much it costs to use a swimming pool? In Ann Arbor, where I live, a single trip to a public swimming pool costs four dollars. Visiting three times a week will set a patient back $624 per year. Many tell me that such an expense is simply beyond their means. We live in a country, it seems, where we are happy to pay for veterans' diabetes pills, hypertension medications, and cholesterol pills, but not for three visits a week to a pool where they might begin to get in good enough shape to get off some of their expensive medicines. Health problems like diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) are often the result of complex social forces. That means that the job of physicians like me is bigger than it used to be. It doesn't end when we've checked a few blood tests and prescribed the relevant pills. Many of our patients are sick because they eat too much or exercise too little. They suffer from stress due to bad neighborhoods or financial problems, and the stress wreaks havoc on their cardiovascular and immune systems. A blood pressure pill and a couple of Xanax simply won't do the trick. If we want to help our patients, we need to address the fundamental forces influencing their health--hence my obsession with things like affordable swimming pools. I am not naive enough to think that a swimming regimen will solve my patients' health problems, but I do believe that it would be a nice start: helping people burn calories and blow off steam, encouraging positive social interactions, and maybe even building muscle strength to protect their fragile joints. While I was reading these four books, I was pleased to discover that I was not alone in my obsession. While meeting with a physician who had just moved to Ann Arbor from Philadelphia, where she had worked in a community health center, I found that she, too, encouraged her patients to swim and encountered the same barriers I did. Being a better person than I, though, she didn't give up, but instead took it upon herself to compile a list of neighborhood swimming pools, along with their pricing rate at various times of the week, to distribute to her patients. Before she left Philadelphia, she had been planning to visit these local pools to negotiate more affordable rates for her patients. A physician who believes that her job description includes negotiating swimming pool fees? Clearly, as more physicians recognize the broad societal forces influencing people's health, their view of their proper role will broaden. I expect that many bioethicists--especially those who study issues of justice and resource allocation--are also recognizing that their job description goes well beyond what it used to. When I was first introduced to the field of bioethics back in the early 1980s, I took special joy from the section of the course dealing with health care justice. We wrestled with lifeboat ethics, deciding (hypothetically) who should live and die if there were not enough dialysis machines or intensive care unit beds to go around. Once we'd solved these microallocation dilemmas, we moved on to the big picture stuff--the macroallocation issues such as, is there a right to a decent minimum of health care, and, if so, what does that right entail? …

Resistance training complements aerobic exercise

Resistance training might be as important as aerobic exercise for women fighting against fat. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute and Arizona State University found that, following a bout of resistance training, the energy expenditure of female subjects was elevated for up to two hours. Carol Binzen and colleagues measured the oxygen consumption and substrate use of 24–34-year old women, who regularly exercised with weights, for two hours after they had undergone an experimental treatment. On one day, subjects undertook a workout comprising several different exercises. On another day, they sat quietly and watched a film. On average, in the two hours after exercise, subjects burned 155 calories, compared with around 50 calories used while watching the film. Binzen believes that a combination of cardiovascular exercise and resistance training is the key to burning calories most efficiently. Their results are published in the June issue of Medicine, Science Sports and Exercise. HN

Reduced gene expression of UCP2 but not UCP3 in skeletal muscle of human obese subjects.

Massive overweight is an increasing health problem and underlies several complications which in turn result in premature death. The mechanisms underlying the imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure, that lead to obesity in humans, are still only partly understood. In rodents, heat generation and the burning of calories by the mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) are important for metabolic control. However, UCP1 is exclusively expressed in brown fat which is only present in limited amounts in human adults. The recent characterization of two new uncoupling proteins, UCP2 and UCP3, may elucidate potentially important pathways for energy expenditure regulation in man. The aim of this study was to investigate whether obesity is accompanied by aberrations in UCP2 and UCP3 regulation. Expression of these two genes was examined using in situ hybridization in six lean and six obese, but otherwise healthy, men. The UCP2 expression was decreased by 28 % (p = 0.001) in the abdominal muscle of the obese subjects. No differences in UCP3 expression were observed between obese and control subjects, although there was great variation in the expression between subjects. In conclusion, these data suggest an impaired activity of the mitochondrial uncoupling protein UCP2, but probably not UCP3, in obese subjects. This may result in decreased energy expenditure and contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity.

Diagnosing weight disorders by measuring uncoupling proteins

Millenium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Cambridge, MA, USA) has been granted its first US patent in predictive medicine for methods of diagnosing weight disorders using measurement of uncoupling protein homologue (UCPH) RNA or protein.Scientists at Millenium identified the cDNA that encodes UCPH, which is 50–60% homologous to rodent uncoupling protein (UCP), by screening its sequence database for candidate obesity genes. UCP and UCPH, both mitochondrial inner-membrane transporter proteins, burn excess calories by uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation. This process results in the conversion of excess calories into heat rather than being stored as fat.`The respective rodent and human proteins are mediators of non-shivering thermogenesis (NST), an important component of energy expenditure', explains Louis Tartaglia, senior director of metabolic diseases and oncology at Millenium. `UCP is implicated in body weight regulation in rodents, and UCPH probably does the same in humans.'In rodents, UCP is expressed in brown fat, whereas in humans, who have brown fat only in infancy, UCPH is expressed in several tissues, predominantly in white adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. `A large portion of both NST and regulated thermogenesis in man is thought to be mediated by muscle and, to a lesser extent, white adipose tissue', says Tartaglia. UCPH concentrations are regulated by food intake and increasing fat mass. `The discovery of UCPH helps to explain why some people are obese although they don't overeat', says Tartaglia. `They are simply not producing enough UCPH.'A tantalizing insight into the role of UCPH in body weight regulation comes from studies in obese (ob/ob and db/db) mice. UCPH, as well as UCP, is found in mice, but mainly in white adipose tissue. UCPH mRNA expression is 4–6-fold higher in the white adipose tissue of obese mice than in lean controls. In Tartaglia's view, `Upregulation of UCPH expression in this context is a compensatory change in which UCPH induction is attempting to act against powerful genetically induced obesity'.The Millenium diagnostic test measures concentrations of UCPH in adipose tissue. `People who have low UCPH levels tend to store excess calories as fat, whereas those with high levels burn off the excess', says Tartaglia. `We should be able to learn more about the role of UCPH in mammalian thermogenesis and body weight control from experiments in mouse knockout and transgenic studies.'One-third of adults in the USA are considered to be obese—i.e. their body mass index is more than 20% above average. As a risk factor for several diseases, among them coronary heart disease, type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes and osteoarthritis, obesity is a major public-health problem.Measurement of UCPH levels could help physicians to find out whether a patient is obese through overeating or through inefficient burning of calories. The diagnostic test could thus enable doctors to tailor their recommendations for treatment more closely to the patient's needs.Therapeutic interventions involving adjustment of UCPH concentrations—still some way off—would enable obese patients to reduce weight by achieving higher levels of activity. Millenium, in collaboration with Hoffmann–LaRoche (Nutley, NJ, USA), is now screening for suitable small molecules, to be taken in pill form, that could do this. `Gene therapy is not on the agenda as yet', notes Tartaglia.

Chiral Gas Chromatographic Determination of Ephedrine-Type Alkaloids in Dietary Supplements Containing Má Huáng

Má Huáng is a traditional Chinese medicine derived from the aerial parts of several Ephedra species (Ephedraceae). These plants produce (-)-ephedrine, (+)-pseudoephedrine, (-)-norephedrine, (+)-norpseudoephedrine, (-)-N-methylephedrine, and (+)-N-methylpseudoephedrine. Racemic and (-)-ephedrine, (+)-pseudoephedrine, and (+/-)-norephedrine (phenylpropanolamine) are used clinically in the United States and are largely synthetic in origin. Current interest in Má Huáng is spurred by reports describing a "thermogenic" (calorie burning) effect provided by mixtures of ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin. Products providing the key thermogenic compounds from natural sources are available as dietary supplements in retail outlets. Reports of potentially unsafe levels of the alkaloids, as well as possible fortification of Má Huáng-containing products with synthetic Ephedra alkaloids, prompted the development of a chiral gas chromatographic (GC) method that allows determination of alkaloid patterns and identification of isomerically impure synthetic alkaloids. Nine products were analyzed on a gamma-cyclodextrin capillary GC column. Identity of the alkaloids was verified by GC/mass spectrometry (MS) and GC/matrix isolation/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. No synthetic isomers were found in the dietary supplements analyzed. Three products contained only one of the ephedrine-type alkaloids. One product that listed Má Huáng as an ingredient contained no detectable ephedrine-type alkaloid. In products containing measurable quantities of these compounds, total alkaloid levels ranged from 0.3 to 56 mg/g.

Crition-related validity of the anorectic cognitions questionnaire

Several authors have suggested core cognitive dysfunction as central to anorexia and bulimia nervosa. However, psychometrically sound assessment devices for these cognitions are notably lacking. Previous research with the Anorectic Cognitions Questionnaire (MAC) has suggested that it has good concurrent and criterion-related validity, and high internal consistency. As well, the factor structure has been supported. The purpose of this investigation was to further assess the criterion-related validity of the MAC. Male and female college students completed the MAC and a questionnaire about eating and weight-related behavior and attitudes in four areas: general emphasis on weight regulation, relative importance of specific benefits of losing or maintaining weight (i.e., psychological, appearance, and health benefits), use of calorie restriction strategies, and use of calorie burning strategies. In general, persons scoring above the mean on the MAC showed more evidence of pathological eating attitudes and behavior in all four areas.

Panic disorder.

<h3>Background</h3> Promotion of physical activity in primary care has had limited success. Wearable technology presents an opportunity to support healthcare practitioners (HCPs) in providing personalised feedback to their patients. <h3>Aim</h3> To explore the differing thoughts and feelings of both HCPs and at-risk patients provided with personalised multidimensional physical activity feedback. <h3>Design &amp; setting</h3> Qualitative study with HCPs (<i>n</i> = 15) and patients at risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes (<i>n</i> = 29), recruited from primary care. <h3>Method</h3> HCPs and patients wore a physical activity monitor for 7 days and were subsequently shown their personalised multidimensional feedback, including sedentary time, calorie burn, short (1-minute) or long (&gt;10-minute) bouts of moderate-to-vigorous activity during semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically with comparisons made between individuals of high (<i>n</i> = 21) and low (<i>n</i> = 23) physical activity levels as to their cognitive–affective responses to their data. <h3>Results</h3> Personalised feedback elicited positive emotional responses for highly active participants and negative emotional responses for those with low activity. However, individuals with low activity demonstrated largely positive coping mechanisms. Some low active participants were in denial over feedback, but the majority valued it as an opportunity to think of ways to improve physical activity (cognitive reappraisal) and started forming action plans (problem-focused coping). Around half of all participants also sought to validate their feedback against peers. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Personalised, visual feedback elicits immediate emotional and coping responses in participants of high and low physical activity levels. Further studies should explore whether multidimensional feedback could help practitioners explore diverse ways for lifestyle change with patients.

Bornholm Disease in the South Pacific

<h3>Background</h3> Promotion of physical activity in primary care has had limited success. Wearable technology presents an opportunity to support healthcare practitioners (HCPs) in providing personalised feedback to their patients. <h3>Aim</h3> To explore the differing thoughts and feelings of both HCPs and at-risk patients provided with personalised multidimensional physical activity feedback. <h3>Design &amp; setting</h3> Qualitative study with HCPs (<i>n</i> = 15) and patients at risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes (<i>n</i> = 29), recruited from primary care. <h3>Method</h3> HCPs and patients wore a physical activity monitor for 7 days and were subsequently shown their personalised multidimensional feedback, including sedentary time, calorie burn, short (1-minute) or long (&gt;10-minute) bouts of moderate-to-vigorous activity during semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically with comparisons made between individuals of high (<i>n</i> = 21) and low (<i>n</i> = 23) physical activity levels as to their cognitive–affective responses to their data. <h3>Results</h3> Personalised feedback elicited positive emotional responses for highly active participants and negative emotional responses for those with low activity. However, individuals with low activity demonstrated largely positive coping mechanisms. Some low active participants were in denial over feedback, but the majority valued it as an opportunity to think of ways to improve physical activity (cognitive reappraisal) and started forming action plans (problem-focused coping). Around half of all participants also sought to validate their feedback against peers. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Personalised, visual feedback elicits immediate emotional and coping responses in participants of high and low physical activity levels. Further studies should explore whether multidimensional feedback could help practitioners explore diverse ways for lifestyle change with patients.