For many people the answer to the question, "what is non- exercise activity thermogenesis?" is as much of a mystery as whether there's life on Mars, is a secret weapon for those with weight loss goals.

The health tool is often referred to as NEAT. It refers to calories burned during everyday activities instead of formal exercise. Under the NEAT umbrella, the energy you spend on a walk to work, cleaning the house or sitting down is. If you invest in one of the best fitness trackers, you will be surprised to see how much you add up.

The contribution of NEAT to a balanced lifestyle should not be underestimated, as many people pursuing health goals place greater emphasis on their time spent in the gym, lacing into their trainers or running on treadmills.

In 2007, a study was published in the Journal of Internal Medicine about the role it can play in achieving a healthy body composition. According to James Levine, the Director of the Rare Disease Institute at Fondation Ipsen, data supports the central hypothesis that NEAT is important for understanding the cause and effective treatment for obese people.

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By avoiding sitting, promoting motion, and engaging in simple, repetitive, and creative activities, a significant amount of extra calories may be spent that can reduce weight and perhaps prevent the cardiovascular and metabolism related problems associated with it.

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We asked Foodspring, the founder of pH Nutrition, for a definition of NEAT, and he gave one.

The amount of energy we use outside of exercise is what counts. Anything that burns calories can be classified as NEAT. Walking around the house, gardening, playing with your kids, doing general chores, and even fidgeting are some of the things that can be done.

How many calories does NEAT burn?

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Depending on situational factors, the number of calories burned through NEAT will be vastly different. An office worker who stays seated for most of the day will use more energy than a person who is on their feet doing physical labor.

Depending on the job, the number of calories burned can be vastly different. He says that someone who is desk bound will average around 400-500kcal per day compared to a builder or farm.

He says that through this, NEAT is responsible for burning more calories than formal exercise.

The amount of energy burned during exercise has many variables such as how much effort you put in, your skill level and the type of training. The calories burned could be as high as 1200kcal if you just rode for an hour and didn't push.

The majority of the time, it is only athletes who participate in long duration endurance exercise or very high intensity training who burn more calories through EAT than NEAT.

How important is NEAT for weight loss?

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NEAT is an essential tool for people who want to lose weight. There are a lot of things we can do outside of the gym to burn calories.

There are two ways to make a deficit of calories. Increasing energy out and decreasing energy in Consuming fewer calories through food and burning more calories through increased activity levels is what it's called.

If you want to create a calories deficit without having to reduce your intake further, increase your NEAT and factor it into your day. Adding more exercise into your routine will make it more difficult to increase energy output. Those who maintain a higher NEAT are more successful at maintaining their weight than those who have a lower NEAT.

This point was reinforced by a study published in the Journal of Exercise Nutrition and biochemistry. A low level of NEAT is associated with obese people. Variations in individual and environmental factors can have a significant effect on energy expenditure.

How to increase your NEAT

Woman walking up stairs

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It is disarmingly simple to get moving if you want to increase your non- exercise activity thermogenesis.

You can increase your daily energy expenditure by taking the stairs instead of jumping in a lift, for example. You can walk as you work if you invest in a standing desk or a walking treadmill.

Further reading

A component of daily energy expenditure is non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

NEAT is a non- exercise activity.

The life-force is liberated by non exercise activity thermogenesis.

There is a new tab for non exercise activity thermogenesis in obese management.