Do you burn more calories in a day when the weather is really hot

Hi guys - does anyone know the answer?

I don't believe so. This is true when it's cold though as your body works harder to keep you warm. I don't like to eat when it's hot and I don't even feel hungry, so maybe you actually burn less.

You probably become dehydrated more easily on a hot day, which might make it seem like you've lost weight. 

I'm also not hungry when it's really hot out! (not that it ever gets that hot in Michigan, I wish it did ) The only thing I really crave is ice cream. lol Even then though that's a craving, I still don't feel actual hunger. So it's kinda hard to eat, especially when you feel full from drinking tons of ice water a day as well.

I miss the beach. LOL

Original Post by shtoopid:

I don't believe so. This is true when it's cold though as your body works harder to keep you warm. I don't like to eat when it's hot and I don't even feel hungry, so maybe you actually burn less.

If it's true that your body works harder to keep you warm in cold weather, surely your body works harder to keep you cool in hot weather?

Here's something to think about - there are new national obesity statistics.  The states with the highest numbers of obese people are in the south, with Mississippi leading.  Somehow I don't think the outside temperature has anything to do with burning calories.

Thats because there sitting the buts on the couch staying in the air condition LOL


I think you burn more calories when its hot.


I hate when i run and its under 85 i like it being around 90 and hot for i can be sweating as much as possible.


Your body has to work to produce the sweat so i dunno how that would burn some ammount of calories.

Original Post by merylwhite1:

Original Post by shtoopid:

I don't believe so. This is true when it's cold though as your body works harder to keep you warm. I don't like to eat when it's hot and I don't even feel hungry, so maybe you actually burn less.

If it's true that your body works harder to keep you warm in cold weather, surely your body works harder to keep you cool in hot weather?

i don't think so.  think about the methods: to stay warm in cold weather, the body has to produce heat energy through metabolism.  to stay cool in cold weather, all we do is produce sweat.  and in most parts of the world, the ambient temperature is rarely higher than normal body temperature.

staying cool isn't nearly as demanding as staying warm, and we're not nearly as good at it.

Original Post by clairelaine:

Here's something to think about - there are new national obesity statistics.  The states with the highest numbers of obese people are in the south, with Mississippi leading.  Somehow I don't think the outside temperature has anything to do with burning calories.

 Those stats don't have anything to do with the temperature. It has to do with fried foods being a main staple of the southern diet. As a 37 year resident of Texas, I can attest to that!

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by merylwhite1:

Original Post by shtoopid:

I don't believe so. This is true when it's cold though as your body works harder to keep you warm. I don't like to eat when it's hot and I don't even feel hungry, so maybe you actually burn less.

If it's true that your body works harder to keep you warm in cold weather, surely your body works harder to keep you cool in hot weather?

i don't think so.  think about the methods: to stay warm in cold weather, the body has to produce heat energy through metabolism.  to stay cool in cold weather, all we do is produce sweat.  and in most parts of the world, the ambient temperature is rarely higher than normal body temperature.

staying cool isn't nearly as demanding as staying warm, and we're not nearly as good at it.

In my part of the world the ambient temperature can get higher than my internal body temperature. I had a look and found this:

"More than 70 percent of the energy produced by your muscles during exercise is lost as heat. So the harder you exercise, the hotter your muscles become. In hot weather, not only must your heart pump extra blood to bring oxygen to your muscles, it must also pump hot blood from your heated muscles to your skin where heat can be dissipated. On the other hand, in cold weather, you heart only has to pump blood to your muscles and very little extra blood to your skin to dissipate heat. Your muscles produce so much heat during exercise that your body does not need to produce more heat to keep you warm. So your heart works harder and you burn more calories in hot weather."

A study showing relative calorie burns in hot/cold weather is here.

The table of relative caloric burns for physical activity is on p.599. It shows increased calorie expenditure during physical activity in hot weather.

However, there's an interesting graph on p.606 that shows more protein and fat is used during rest in hot weather, and more carbs are burned during rest in cold weather. It appears that during physical activity, you burn more energy in hot than cold weather, as your body uses more cooling mechanisms. But while sedentary, you burn more energy in cold environments - because your muscles aren't providing heat, so you create it by shivering instead, which uses up glycogen.

i dunno.  like i said, in most parts of the world that are inhabited by humans, this is only relevant a few weeks--or even a few days--of the year.

Calorie burn during physical activity was higher in warm weather compared to cool weather, even when the environmental temperature wasn't higher than internal body temperature.

The data for the study I linked was for temperatures of above 30C (86F) or below 0C (32F).