Haar Shares Insight on Popular Diet Method
A Men’s Health article quotes Clinical Associate Professor and Chairperson for the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Mindy Haar, Ph.D., RDN, about the Calories In Calories Out (CICO) diet. The diet operates under the premise that a person will lose weight by consuming fewer calories than their body uses to perform its daily functions. Haar explains that total daily calorie expenditure is based on basal metabolic rate, the number of calories used when at rest for basic functions like breathing, maintaining body temperature, brain, and nerve functions, plus energy used for digestion and physical activity.
“While age, gender, height and genetics are influential factors that can’t be modified, the amount of muscle mass you have increases caloric needs even when resting, and increasing all types of exercise adds to calorie expenditure as well,” says Haar. “Aside from weight loss, increase in aerobic capability and strength training has a plethora of other health benefits.”