What is Thermogenesis and How Can It Help Weight Loss?

One of the most consistent themes in the weight loss and fat burning genre is thermogenesis. A lot of the fat burner supplements you will come across are described as thermogenic – here’s why

Thermogenesis is best described as the dissipation of energy through the body producing heat. It occurs in brown adipose tissue and skeletal muscle.

sciencedirect

Thermogenesis for Weight Loss

If you have researching thermogenesis and its connection to weight loss, this article should answer your questions.

What is Thermogenesis?

Thermogenesis is a process that happens in humans, warm-blooded animals, and certain plants.

It generates heat and is one of the things that helps keep you alive.

Many people are aware increasing thermogenesis can initiate corresponding increases in metabolism that can help you to lose weight. It can ultimately help you burn fat.

Most supplements aimed at fat burning will all use ‘thermogenesis’ as a mechanic of action.

However, the relationship between thermogenesis and weight loss is pretty complicated.

Before you can fully comprehend the role thermogenesis plays in weight loss and fat burning, you need to understand what calories are and the relationship they have with the body’s ability to gain weight and lose it.

Calories are not a “thing” they are unit that’s commonly used to measure energy intake and expenditure in the body.

The body is like a machine. It needs energy to make it run. Food provides it with the energy it requires.

Some foods, such as candies and pizza, contain more calories than other foods do. Cucumber and lettuce, for example, are low-calorie foods. 

A(2.07 oz) Snickers bar provides 280 calories of energy. It’ a high-energy snack.

If, on the other hand, you eat a whole cucumber, weighing 301 grams, your body will only receive 45 calories because it’s such a low-energy, low calorie food.

One of the things your metabolism does is govern the way your body handles the energy you get from food.

When you get too much energy, it’s stored as fat. When you don’t get enough energy, your body breaks down the fat to get the energy back.

So where does thermogenesis come into all of this? Let’s take a look at that now.

How Thermogenesis Helps Keep You Alive

Your body is not capable of withstanding severe changes in temperature.

It can only handle a 10-degree drop in temperature and a 5-degree increase so it uses thermogenesis to regulate body temperature and keep it within acceptable parameters.

Remember we are talking body temperature here, not the temperature of the environment the body finds itself in.

When you become too cold, an area in the brain called the hypothalamus responds to the situation by taking steps to keep you alive.

One of the things it does is instruct the muscles to shiver.

This can make your metabolism increase to up to five times normal speed, causing an elevation in body temperature.

When you are too hot, the hypothalamus comes to the rescue again by issuing instructions that make you sweat. [1]

This brings your body temperature down again.

This process of “thermoregulation” overseen by the hypothalamus helps you maintain an acceptable balance.

The response requires energy to power it. Depending on your energy status at the time, the energy may come directly from food or from your stores of fat. Not all fatty food is bad for us!

However, responses of this type are due to environmental factors.

Thermogenesis is influenced by other things as well including your level of activity and the foods you eat.

Thermogenesis and Metabolism

The term Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) refers to the amount of energy your body uses while you are resting.

For the average man, it’s around 2,500 calories per day, while the average woman’s body burns around 2,000 calories per day.

Two forms of thermogenesis influence daily energy requirements:

• The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) – The energy required to digest food.
• The Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA) – The energy required to power activity/exercise

Let’s look at them in a little more detail.

The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Your RMR typically accounts for 60-75 percent of the calories you burn per day.

The thermic effect of food is normally around 10 percent and TEA will be 15-30%, depending on your level of activity.

Some foods have a greater thermic effect than others do. For instance, sugary foods and treats are easy to digest.

They bombard the body with lots of extra calories and the digestive process does not require many calories to power it.

At the other end of the scale, protein is much harder to digest.

It has a greater thermic effect. The effort required to digest lean chicken breast will require far more calories than eating a snickers bar would.

Protein provides four calories per gram but 25-30 percent of the calories it provides are expended during the digestive process.

So, if your chicken breast steak provides 100 calories you will only be left with a surplus of 70-75 calories to burn for energy or store as fat.

The Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA)

Several factors can influence TEA, such as your food choices, how much you eat, and your normal RMR. However, the predominant factor is how active you are.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking TEA is all about hitting the gym or heading for the track. All types of activity count.

Walking from your desk to the coffee machine, sweeping the porch, even sitting twiddling your thumbs. It’s all extra activity that requires additional energy.

However, the TEA is greater during periods of intense exercise.

When you are sitting typing your activity could burn around 300-400 calories per hour.

If you go running you will burn considerably more and the greater thermic effect will be apparent by the sweat on your brow.

Thermogenic Fat Burning Supplements: What You Need to Know

Some if the best weight loss ingredients are thermogenic fat burners.

The effect is not earth-shattering but it increases your RMR causing you to burn extra calories—all the time, even when you are at rest and regardless of whether you are digesting food or not.

Some thermogenic fat-burning ingredients, such as capsicum and green tea, may increase metabolism for up to 24 hours per day.

Some of the best fat burners for women concentrate on the thermogenic effect.

Supplements that increase thermogenesis can make a noticeable difference to the results you get via diet and exercise.

Unfortunately, even the best thermogenic fat burners will not offer much help if you don’t control how many calories are entering your body. 

Regardless of whether you exercise regularly or not, if you get your diet right, supplements that increase thermogenesis can boost your weight loss.

However, if you continue eating too many calories per day, even the combination of a good thermogenic fat burner and exercise may not be enough to burn off all the calories you are eating.

Diet is the key to weight loss, exercise can help, and supplements that increase thermogenesis are good for oiling the wheels of your weight loss success.

Thermogenesis for Weight Loss FAQ’s