Losing weight by breathing out

In an interesting twist in the exercise and weight loss discussion Australian scientists have discovered that when we lose weight via exercise most of our loss is in the form of carbon dioxide that we breathe out.

The research is published in the British Medical Journal, with Ruben Meerman, ABC presenter from Catalyst, as the lead author.

It demonstrated that 84% of the weight we burn off via exercise is blown off as carbon dioxide while only 16% is lost as water, either as sweat or urine.

On a sedentary day, most of us will breathe out about 200 gram of carbon, or about 10 milligrams per breath!

So, regardless of the particular weight loss diet we may be on, without exercising there cannot be much weight loss.

So, regardless of the particular weight loss diet we may be on, without exercising there cannot be much weight loss.

If our bodies produce all of this carbon dioxide that we need to exhale, then it stands to reason that any issue with the lungs such as smoking, or obesity with its concommitant pressure on the diaphragm limiting its expansion and lung volume, means that we produce more CO2 than our lungs can deal with, and breathlessness will continue long after exercise is completed.

In fact how long it takes the breath of someone who has been exercising to return to normal is one of the main ways of measuring fitness.

Clearly being out of breath is an indicator that the body is producing more carbon dioxide that we can exhale in our normal way, so then if you want to lose weight faster than what is lost on a sedentary day, then whatever activity you are doing needs to be strenuous enough to make you out of breath.

Breathing deeply during otherwise sedentary days can increase the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled therefore increasing the metabolism of fat.

Lots of Indian yogic and meditation practises include deep breathing which along with the advantage of bringing one ‘into one’s body’, of shifting one’s attention from the mind to the body, can also help weight loss.

Adapted for Byronbodyandsoul.com by Mark O’Brien, June 2015 from Want to lose weight? Breathe out, Dec 2014 by Bianca Nogrady

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