There are as many weight loss methods as there are people, it seems. Countless articles cover exercise and diet, and it’s a hot topic with friends and family members in most cultures. Science has made rapid advancements in recent years, and several previously unknown ways to lose weight have emerged. Read on for some simple, scientific but totally crazy ways to lose weight.
Lose Weight by Smelling Fruit
The smell of foods like pizzas or burgers can trigger the urge to eat, however good your intentions. But did you know that smelling certain fruits can decrease your appetite for foods that can lead to weight gain?
Research suggests that smelling fruit can help you make healthier food choices. The University of Bourgogne selected 115 individuals (aged 18 to 50) to dine out for the study. Half of those individuals visited a waiting room scented with fresh pear air freshener, while the other half went to a room that was not artificially fragranced.
All the participants then returned to the dining area, where a buffet containing both high-calorie desserts and healthy fruits was on offer. Surprisingly, those exposed to fruit fragrances made the healthier food choices. Appetite and The Daily Mail published the results of this research.
Laugh and Lose Weight
It’s said that laughter is the best medicine, and laughter has certainly been proven to lower blood pressure and reduce stress levels. That’s not to say that you should go around laughing your head off all day — you’d get some very funny looks, and may be taken to a place of safety for your own protection — but new research suggests that laughter can have an impact on weight loss.
Research conducted by the Vanderbilt University Medical Center suggests that you can burn calories by laughing. 45 adults were asked to watch comedy programs, and lead researcher Maciej Buchowski found that bursts of laughter used around 20% energy when the participants were at rest.
The results suggest that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes is equivalent to a workout that burns 10 to 40 calories. Your body also uses an additional 10 to 40 calories to create the energy your body can use. So get the family together, put on a comedy show, and laugh as you lose weight!
Lose Weight by Camping at High Altitudes
Weight loss is a complex business in which many factors — some of them surprising — can influence the success of your efforts. Some people are unfamiliar with the health benefits associated with higher altitudes, but recent research yields evidence that altitude can help you lose weight.
Lead researcher Dr. Florian Lippl and his colleagues at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich recruited 20 obese adult males and observed them for one week at low altitudes. The men then transferred to a research area on the Zugspitze Mountain. On average, the men lost around one and a half kilograms more at high altitude.
The research suggests that study participants felt less hungry because of increased leptin levels — a hormone that contributes to feelings of hunger when at low levels. Additionally, the participants’ metabolism increased so they burned more calories at higher altitudes.
A related study published in the International Journal of Obesity suggests that people in the US who live near sea level are more obese than those living at higher altitudes.
To lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than your body burns to function normally, so that you force it to convert fat stores to energy. However, the body is a complex machine, and many factors — both external and internal — affect weight loss. Recent research is uncovering facts that often sound too crazy to be true, and while smelling fruit, laughing and camping in the mountains alone won’t shift those excess pounds, science has proved that they can certainly help when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle!
Reply