Mile High Club for Weight Loss?
New research by scientists suggests that the thin air at high altitudes increases an individual’s metabolism and decreases their appetite, even without exercise. The small study found that obese participants who spent time at a weight-loss facility in the mountains lost weight without being put on a diet.
In the study led by Dr. Florian Lippl, of Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, 20 obese male participants, each weighing around 230 pounds, first spent a week at low altitudes, then two weeks at a high altitude (8 700 feet above sea level) and finally four weeks at normal altitude. The men were allowed to eat whatever they wanted, but were forbidden rigorous exercise.
Researchers found that at the high altitude participants’ bodies produced higher levels of the “hunger hormone” leptin, which made the men feel fuller. Over the course of the study the men lost on average 3,3 pounds, eating 734 less calories a day at the high altitude.
“With a little humor, I tell my patients now, if they want to take holidays, they should think of mountain holidays [rather] than spending their holidays at the sea,” Lippl told LiveScience.
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