Does mobile phone radiation increase weight?
To find out whether mobile phone radiation stimulates appetite, researchers at the German University of Lübeck conducted a study on a group of people, and they concluded – in its first stage – that the appetite of these people increased after phone conversations, and they ate more food.
Brain researchers at Germany’s University of Lübeck specialize in the study of human eating behaviour, particularly brain metabolism and energy consumption. This is influenced by a number of things, including the hypothalamus, the central control unit of our brain. Through chemical media, this region regulates body temperature, blood pressure, sleep-wake rhythms, and feelings of hunger and satiety.
The researchers at the University of Lübeck relied on experiments that concluded that there are potential effects of mobile phone waves on food intake in mice and other rodents, as the weight of these rodents increased when exposed to phone radiation for a period of two hours, according to Deutsche Welle, according to the “NDR” website. ) German.
After this experiment on mice, the researchers in Lübeck wanted to try the same thing on humans. A group of healthy young men of normal weight were invited to undergo the test. They were called to the institute one day at 6:30 am, with the stipulation that their stomachs were empty and that they had not used their mobile phones 12 hours prior to the test.
Brain activity and eating behaviour
The brain activity of the test participants was first measured, after which the mobile phone was placed near the head, as is the case for regular phone calls.
After 20 minutes, the subjects’ brain activity was scanned again, and those whose mobile phones were turned on showed a significant increase in energy metabolism in the brain. Afterwards, the test participants were served a varied breakfast.
This process was repeated on two more days, but during one of the three appointments the mobile phone remained switched off, which the participants did not know. The researchers were not only concerned with brain metabolism, but also with breakfast, so they recorded exactly what and how much the test participants ate.
More appetite and more calories
The study showed that turning on the mobile phone actually made a significant difference: 13 out of 15 subjects ate more after a simulated 20-minute mobile phone call, and they ate 22% to 27% more calories than when the mobile phone was off. The extra calories were mostly from carbohydrates.
In fact, the study provided evidence that a mobile phone can influence energy metabolism in the brain, including the hypothalamus, which regulates feelings of hunger and satiety. However, the researchers urge caution, because the number of participants was small and consisted only of men.
In further studies, the researchers want to verify that this is also proven in women, and whether overweight people interact with mobile phones in the same way as people of normal weight, and whether this association has any significant effect on weight gain in women. Human.