Special Unit 1 Approach to a Healthy Life
London Transport Workers Study
In the busy ____ streets of 1953, a special study was conducted.
Scientists observed more than 31,000 people ____ had various jobs on buses and trains.
____ jobs demanded lots of moving around, like ticket collectors, while others, like drivers, didn’t require much movement.
What was interesting was that the workers with more active jobs had ____ heart problems than those who sat a lot.
This implied ____ jobs requiring more moving around were healthier for workers than those jobs that didn’t.
What could ____ for the difference in their health outcomes?
Three Ways Energy Is Used
The answer to this requires a simple formula and a little bit ____ math.
The formula is an easy equation: the total energy ____ of the body equals 「BMR + TEF + PA」.
In the human body, the energy from different foods people eat is used to ____ everything running smoothly.
The basal ____ rate (BMR) is a measurement of how much energy is needed to stay alive;
the thermic effect of ____ (TEF) is a measurement of the energy used to consume and absorb energy from food;
and physical activity (PA) is a measurement of the ____ used beyond just lying in bed.
Learning about the composition of these three elements can help people make better choices for ____ health and well-being.
Most of the energy the body uses each day ____ set or fixed.
Assuming an energy input ____ 2,000 calories, about 1,400 calories, or 70%, goes to essential functions such as keeping the heart and the brain working; this is called the basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Around 200 calories, or 10%, is used to consume ____ absorb energy from food and is called the thermic effect of food (TEF).
In short, BMR and TEF ____ the minimum energy required for the body to stay alive.
The remaining 400 calories, or 20%, is used for things people choose ____ do, including various physical activities (PA) like working, playing, and moving around.
Maybe some of the London public transportation workers spent the remaining 20% differently, resulting in their ____ health outcomes.
Physical Activities and NEAT
Then, what do ____ do with the remaining 400 calories?
They may be burned by intense physical exercise like jogging, working out at the gym, playing badminton or tennis, or venturing out for a ____
However, those calories may also be burned by small, seemingly unimportant activities we do throughout the day, like standing up and sitting down, walking around the house, washing dishes, doing the laundry, taking out the garbage, and many ____
These actions are collectively ____ Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) as they use up energy too!
____ example, a 40-minute run will burn around 400 calories.
Doing this could use up the excess energy budget completely, but not everyone has 40 minutes a day to go ____ a run.
Taking 10,000 steps, which ____ like walking about 8 kilometers, burns 400 calories as well.
What this means is that while a 40-minute run ____ burn 400 calories, doing small things like more walking, taking stairs, or even just cleaning your room can add up at the end of the day, too.
____ Happens When You Increase NEAT
Each gram of body fat contains about 9 calories, so if ____ spend your day eating and not moving, your body may convert the 400 calories into 44 grams of fat.
This is not healthy ____ the long term.
While NEAT doesn’t provide the heart and muscles with the same benefits that exercise does, excess energy still gets used ____ instead of being stored.
You may not necessarily ____ fit, but you’ll stay in energy balance, which is important for long term health.
Further Health Benefits
Paying attention to NEAT has other health benefits as ____
Sitting too much can ____ problems like heart disease and muscle loss, so standing not only increases NEAT but also decreases sitting time, which is a win-win.
As people get older, it may become more difficult to stay healthy, ____ adopting a lifestyle that maximizes NEAT is a good habit for younger people to make.
Walking ____ taking stairs, or even using smaller water cups so they have to be refilled more often uses energy.
Whether it’s for weight management or trying to stay more active during exam week, understanding NEAT is a great way to ____ energy balance in the body.
In the big picture, your body is like an an ____ account book that needs to be balanced.
____ the food you eat is credit in the account, and you need to spend energy to keep it all in balance.
Thus if you ____ too much food without using the excess energy, your body will store the extra as fat, which is not healthy.
Remember, standing uses more energy than sitting, walking uses more energy than standing, and running ____ more energy than walking, so let’s all keep moving, stay active, and use our energy wisely for a healthier life!