Can turning up the thermostat be making us put on weight? A recent review article¹, suggests that it just might. Thanks to thermostats and indoor heating, we’ve reduced our exposure to the cold, which means that we may be relying less on our body’s natural mechanisms to keep us warm – mechanisms that would normally burn calories.

In the article published last week in Obesity Reviews, the scientists noted that the indoor temperatures at which we feel comfortable have nudged upwards over the last 30 years or so.  On top of that, we’re moving in the direction of what’s known as ‘thermal monotony’ – we tend to keep indoor temperatures fairly steady at all hours, rather than letting them dip at night as they would naturally do.  Not only have we increased our average living room temperatures by a couple of degrees, but our average bedroom temperatures at night have bumped up even more.

Read more »