Could changing to a higher altitude help kick start your weight loss?

New research from Germany has revealed that simply changing altitude could help to make a difference to your metabolism and jump start weight loss. In the study 20 middle aged obese men were taken to the mountains for a week to help explain altitude-related weight loss.

From previous studies weight loss has been linked to higher altitudes but these studies only used high activity people like skiers and hikers as their subjects. So the results were expected to be better than normal. But the researchers in this new case wanted to see if just changing altitude alone with out any change in activity or food levels could make the difference.

The 20 men (who’s average body mass index was 34) were put through a serious of tests in Munich before being relocated to a research station on Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. While they were there, no restrictions was placed on their eating and they could only perform slow walking as exercise in the building. After the week the men were returned to Munich where more tests were done to compare the findings.

While the men lost on average 3.5 pounds it was found that even a month later the men were burning slightly more calories and their exercise capacity had improved dramatically. While the researchers are a bit baffled at the results they believe that the week spent on the mountain appeared to jump-start metabolism and make exercise easier for the men.

The study will be tried again but at a higher altitude next time to see if the figures still add up but it may prove that altitude may play a role in weight loss. Which may be one reason why Colorado which has the highest mean elevation also has the lowest obesity rate in the US, while states with higher rates of obesity tend to be at lower altitudes.

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While we all know its not healthy being overweight there are other hidden reasons that probably aren’t that obvious…

1 – You may end up paying more on insurance premiums.

2 – You’re less likely or have to wait to get help with fertility problems.

3 – You’re less likely to get early detections of cancer or get the right treatment for it.

4 – Being overweight can affect medication dosage, so you end up getting too little or possibly too much.

5 – Some serious health conditions can be dismissed by health practitioners and blamed as a side effect of obesity rather than investigating the problem.

6 – Obese women are less likely to get Pap smears compared to normal weight women.

7 – CT or MRI scan machines aren’t as effective on overweight people. Ultrasound can’t penetrate more than 8 centimeters of subcutaneous fat, and in some cases CT scans have to expose the body to higher levels of radiations to get a clear image.

8 – Some surgeons are reluctant to operate on the very overweight because the operations are more difficult, time-consuming and may have a higher chance of complications.

9 – The chance of getting an organ transplants may be withheld because of weight problems.

10 – Overweight people are more likely to delay doctors’ appointments and preventive care, because they don’t want to face criticism.