Abstract

Six obese men aged 25 to 46 years exercised vigorously for 3 1/2 hours in a cold chamber (- 34 degrees) on 10 sucessive 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 dietaryrecords, an activity diary and use of a Kofranyl-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 unterwater weighing indicated that the lossof adipose tissue was well sustained in the first 2 months after the exercise program. Further experiments arerecommended 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. Verf.-Referat