Menopause Matters Forum

Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: Taz2 on January 25, 2014, 12:46:31 PM

Title: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: Taz2 on January 25, 2014, 12:46:31 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25849628

Found this interesting - I'm sure I eat more when I am cold though although maybe we burn it off quicker?

Taz x
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: honeybun on January 25, 2014, 01:45:30 PM
I am definitely thinner in the summer because if it's hot then I am just not hungry and lighter smaller meals suit better.
In the winter it's comfort food. I find chocolate very comforting  ;D  Also soups stews and custard seem to be the order of the day.
We don't over heat the house much to my daughter's discust. Definitely do less in the winter so not really sure how turning up the heating is responsible for weight gain. It's difficult to get in any exercise in the winter so that is another contributing factor.

If the heating on too high makes you fat then my mother should be like two ton Tessie as she heats her house to the most ridiculous temperatures. It's so hot it makes me feel decidedly ill.

Honeyb
x
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: Rowan on January 25, 2014, 02:07:01 PM
Have read about this before HB and like you I think its daft article the only bit I agree with is

"Also, studies suggest that in cold indoor temperatures you are more likely to get a stroke, and there is a [overall] winter mortality effect." amongst the elderly.
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: lubylou on January 25, 2014, 05:07:14 PM
It says "People will gain weight if they consume more calories in food than they burn off in day-to-day life".............and I wonder how much money was given for this research into the proving the  bleeding obvious................a little application of common sense could draw the same conclusion. It is basic physics and maths -  if we consume more calories than we burn off by moving our bodies about the greater our overall weight will be!

If we are cosy and warm we won't move about or use our muscles to increase our temperature and it being nice and warm and cosy we are more likely to sit down watch a film or a bit of telly and snack on cake and biscuits.

I am sure the time and money on this research could be spent elsewhere!
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: Taz2 on January 25, 2014, 06:03:06 PM
I think that the statement quoted is not part of the research but merely a statement of fact. This was the starting point for the research into whether you burn more calories in a cold or hot environment. The fact that their research found that people who lived in houses heated to above 23 degrees were thinner goes against the theory that if we are in a warm  house then we sit around and eat more. It is all a bit confusing. Maybe thinner people keep their houses hotter because they feel the cold more.

Taz x
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: Rowan on January 25, 2014, 06:50:39 PM
When I am cold I eat and drink to get warm, so if I was in a warm house I would not eat so much, its the same with exercise we are told that it helps us lose weight, but when I exercise  it makes me more hungry and I eat more.
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: Dancinggirl on January 25, 2014, 08:34:49 PM
I sometimes think all these crazy research/statistical projects are devised to make us feel guilty -  doubtless they want us all to use less energy for heating our homes so they have to come up with good reasons to turn down the central heating. The cost of heating our homes is already an incentive to turn down the heat but what about all those poor elderly people who feel the cold and can't afford enough heating?!!! I certainly don't want my home too hot - my flushes are my central heating!!!!!!
I bet we ladies on this MM site could come up with some essential research projects that we would like to see done e.g.
1. New HRT products with fewer side effects - a tailored approach to Meno management.
2. A study on the quality of meno advice and treatment across the UK.
Any other ideas out there?  DG x
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: lubylou on January 25, 2014, 10:31:58 PM
here are my ideas, not well written cos its late...........

A proper study with enough participants for statistical significant finding on the benefits of HRT and risks of HRT based on the age at which women commenced and stopped HRT treatment effectiveness and the significant risks as a consequence of taking HRT.

Research to develop better formulations of HRT and means of transmission (e.g. pill or patch, cream, coil or implant) and which is best suited under different condition (e.g. age of women taking or reason for need (e.g. hysterectomy) and type of symptoms it controls e.g. flushes, atrophy, aches, insomnia.

A study into the wider issues of the menopause and its impact on quality of life, social, economic and emotional which empowers women to stop suffering in silence. Getting the menopause, its consequences and importance (every woman becomes menopausal it isn't optional) on the public health agenda so that it is not hidden away.

Making  menopause  seen as a public health issue in the same way things like diabetes is treated, reported and researched by ongoing programmes of research funded in various way (e.g. Diabetes UK is a registered charity which funds a lot of research into treatment and long term interventions. Why not a Menopause UK?  - Why?........ because it is still regarded as something women should just have to put up with rather than a set of symptoms which can be treated and controlled by medication prescribed on the basis of proper research and information to give the choice back to woman and the ability to make the HRT decision themselves on sound grounds not old questionable conflicting “research” information.

On the question of standing your ground this is relevant as reported on BBC website: Patients should be pushier with GPs, says watchdog chairman http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25890572

Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: Dancinggirl on January 26, 2014, 09:54:13 AM
Bravo lubylou  :hapij:
Title: Re: "Central heating is making us fat" article
Post by: lubylou on January 26, 2014, 03:32:45 PM
Dancing girl

Thanks  :)

Lubylou