How many calories does the brain burn?
And how many calories do you burn by thinking, studying or concentrating?
Is there a smart diet, that is, a diet capable of making the brain work better?

For the answer to the first questions, it must be said that these are two different energy expenditures.
In fact, the brain burns about 20% of our basal energy needs .

So just for its survival, the brain burns about 240 calories every day if, for example, we have a basal metabolic rate of 1200 calories a day. But intellectual activities such as thinking about a problem, studying, analyzing, reading and understanding difficult text, doing maths, memorizing, and others that require a lot of concentration and intellectual effort can make us burn more calories.

HOW MANY CALORIES THE BRAIN BURNS IN ACTIVITIES

For activities such as reading, doing crosswords, studying a simple text, analyzing simple problems, the calorie expenditure is modest: we are talking on average of 50 calories that are added to that 20%. If, on the other hand, we have to learn something new, for example learning to use a new computer program or a musical instrument or study a new language, imagine that in about 8 hours we burn 100/200 calories more.
This is because even if we are very busy at the level of study, in reality our brain uses already encoded resources as much as we face new challenges.

And the brains? Here, here’s the beauty.

Those who carry out intellectual activities that combine a brain effort of great intensity and complex reasoning, for example activities where maximum concentration is required but also nervous tension, vigilance, can burn many more calories.

Many philosophers and scientists were very thin, and so were many inventors. It is estimated that chess champions can lose 5-6 kilos during major tournaments , despite sitting all the time. For example, researchers analyzed the energy expenditure of the Mikhail Antipov chessboard during a famous game. In two hours, he had burned a whopping 560 calories.
More than a tennis competition held by a professional athlete.

But does our diet affect the way the brain burns calories? Well yes. Our diet can increase or decrease the calorie expenditure of our brain. Here’s how