Treatment of obesity by exercise in the cold

Six obese men aged 25 to 46 years exercised vigorously for 3 1/2 hours in a cold chamber (-34 degrees C) on 10 successive days. There was an early water loss of about 1 kg, probably due to mobilization of glycogen stores, and a subsequent fat loss of about 4 kg (as estimated from readings of skinfold thickness and confirmed by underwater weighing). The total fat loss was much greater than the calculated external energy deficit (as estimated from dietary records, an activity diary and use of a Kofranyi-Michaelis respirometer). Although some energy was "wasted" through ketosis, much of the additional energy was apparently used for synthesis of additional muscle protein. Both readings of skinfold thickness and underwater weighing indicated that the loss of adipose tissue was well sustained in the first 2 months after the exercise program. Further experiments are recommended to determine whether cold exposure makes a specific contribution to the observed weight loss, and whether this approach would be equally effective in a larger and less selected sample of obese patients.