Food in winter
We do not need to eat more food during winter. In colder climates, before the days of artificial heating, an extra layer of body fat might have been welcome. Nowadays there is little reason to emerge from the winter months with extra bulges.
With the colder, generally wetter, days of winter there is a tendency to stay indoors where it is warm, to become less active and to eat more.
A healthy body can maintain its temperature at a comfortable level. The ability to do this, along with other basic functions and physical activity, requires energy.
Energy is supplied by food, but any excess will be stored as fat.
Therefore, weight maintenance is a matter of balancing energy input with energy output.
Exercise, as well as using up energy, has the added benefit of increasing the rate at which the body functions. This also increases body temperature.
The best way to keep warm during cold weather is to put on an extra layer of clothing, do some exercise and eat hot, low fat, high carbohydrate foods such as pasta. Hot soups will also have a warming effect.
Last Reviewed: 22 May 2002
