Overweight people may want to vacation in the mountains rather than at the beach — and not just to avoid putting on a swimsuit.
At least that’s the conclusion of a new German study, which found that a group of 20 obese men lost weight during a one-week stay at a high altitude — then kept it off for at least four weeks afterward.
During their stay on Germany’s highest mountain, the men didn’t up their physical activity and they weren’t put on a diet. Still, the men didn’t eat as much — reducing their calories by 734 calories to about 2,200 calories a day. Their diastolic blood pressure dipped while their metabolism climbed and they lost an average of 3.3 pounds each, according to the study, published Thursday in the journal Obesity.
People often don’t feel as hungry at higher elevations; in fact, lack of appetite and nausea are usually the first symptoms of altitude sickness.
What’s more surprising is that even after returning home to regular elevations, the guys kept the weight off, at least for the month they were tracked. That’s likely because they were able to exercise more thanks to the blood oxygen boost gained upon returning to level land.