Cold Weather Hinders Weight Loss
Many people gain weight during the cold months even if they exercise and watch what they eat. One reason may be that you burn fewer calories when you exercise in cold weather than you do when it's hot. The hotter it is, the more extra work your heart must do to prevent you from overheating. More than 70 percent of the energy produced by your muscles during exercise is lost as heat. So the harder you exercise, the hotter your muscles become. In hot weather, not only must your heart pump extra blood to bring oxygen to your muscles, it must also pump hot blood from your heated muscles to your skin where heat can be dissipated.
On the other hand, in cold weather, your heart only has to pump blood to your muscles and very little extra blood to your skin to dissipate heat. Your muscles produce so much heat during exercise that your body does not need to produce more heat to keep you warm. So your heart works harder and you burn more calories in hot weather. This information should not discourage you from exercising when its cold, because staying in shape is a year-round proposition. However, it may help to explain why so many people find the pounds creeping on in the wintertime, even when they stay active.
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Reports from DrMirkin.com
Cold hands
Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
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Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does cycling a short distance to work count as exercise? Even if you don't get a vigorous workout, commuting by bicycle is one of the best New Year's resolutions you can make for your health. A study from Universiteit Brussel in Belgium followed sixty-five subjects who were asked to cycle to work at least three times a week. Compared to the control subjects, their risk factors for heart attacks decreased significantly (Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, December 2007). Total cholesterol, bad LDL cholesterol and blood pressure decreased, and their good HDL cholesterol increased. Their activity levels and ability to exercise longer also increased dramatically. According to the authors, "These results show that cycling to work has a positive influence on heart attack risk factors and is likely to improve the health-related quality of life in previously untrained healthy adults."
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Dear Dr. Mirkin: Do you still recommend getting flu shots?
Flu shots have far fewer side effects than the flu does. A new flu virus comes around each year. To cause an epidemic, a virus must be able to infect a large percentage of the population. Every year, the flu virus covers the earth and infects many people. Those who survive the flu have antibodies in their blood streams that protect them from being infected by that particular virus ever again. Therefore, each new flu epidemic is caused by a newly mutated virus.
Scientists can predict which flu virus will come to North America each year, because they culture the flu that occurs in April and May in China. That virus is the basis for the new vaccine to be used where the flu season comes in the late fall and winter. Elderly people or anyone with lung disease should certainly be immunized because they are the ones most likely to require hospitalization if they get the flu. The vaccine is safe and cannot cause disease because it is made from killed virus. The most common side effect is a sore arm from the injection. Some people may suffer a few hours of fever, muscle pain, and chills.
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Recipe of the Week
Lentil-Spinach Soup
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