Why are we easy to gain weight in the cold season?

The nutrition and anti-obesity experts in the UK have explained the reasons for our obesity below:

1. Eat a lot to keep warm

This is a misconception of many people - Ahmed Ahmed, a gastroenterologist and slimming surgeon at Hospital Bupa Cromwell, said that overweight people are actually more prone to getting cold.'The amount of fat accumulated by overeating is usually white fat tissue, while the body fat is brown fat, which is only present in children and genetics , ' explains Dr Ahmed.

Regularly eating and watching TV is one of these
causes you to gain weight easily. (Photo: Daily Mail)

In the early days, the winter is often associated with hunger so our ancestors tend to store energy in the body to survive. But now, food sources are available year-round, so we don't need to store fat.

2. Always feeling hungry

According to endocrinologist Jeremy Tomlinson of Birmingham University, your body maintains very good temperatures, including the cold season. So why is hunger always haunting you? Probably because of metalonin, a hormone that causes a dark feeling that makes us sleepy and may also be a factor in appetite.

In most mammals, the amount of melatonin usually increases during the cold season, helping them to reduce hunger - a strategy to cope with reduced food sources. But there are also some species that have the opposite reaction, that is, melatonin levels decline, so they are prone to starvation and weight gain, such as humans.

3. Craving for indigestion pastries

Professor Craig Jackson, head of the Psychology Department at Birmingham City University, said that in the cold season, our level of happiness is lower, called boredom, mainly because we have a boring feeling when it gets cold , moist and dark. Studies show that when we are bored, we often eat twice as much to get excited. However, high-sugar snacks will inevitably lead to sudden hypoglycemia, making you crave more energy-hungry foods. Thus, you will be in the situation of increasing and decreasing abnormal blood sugar and storing excess calories into fat.

4. Eat less but still gain weight

Studies show that low levels of vitamin D can affect your weight in cold weather. The reason is because we often dress up when going out, so we don't absorb enough vitamin D from the sun.'The lack of vitamin D reduces fat breakdown and activates the ability to store fat, so the calories you eat are stored in fat cells, instead of being converted into energy'. - explained Stephanie Dillon of Central Lancashire University. To enhance vitamin D during the cold season, you can eat oily fish and try to sun exposure for 20 minutes a day, especially in the arm area.

5. Watch TV continuously

During the sunny months, we often drag to parks or beaches to cool and have fun. But in the winter, we tend to stick on the sofa.'If we don't go out and stay indoors, it is easy to have activities associated with eating, such as sitting on a sofa watching TV,' said Professor Jackson. He suggested that we make a diary of dishes and think carefully about what you eat. In addition, Dr. Ahmed also advised us to maintain the physical training regime, both in the cold season to consume energy.