Your body temperature is what makes you fat

If you’re struggling to lose weight, it may be because you have a handicap you don’t even know about.

People who are obese seem to have lower core body temperatures during the day, a new study in the journal Chronobiology International co-authored by Pietro Cortelli, MD, Ph.D suggests. This lower body temperature makes it harder for them to burn off calories efficiently–a problem researchers are calling “a thermogenic handicap.”

While obese and healthy-weight people have similar body temperatures at night, the obese subjects had significantly lower core body temperatures during the day than their leaner peers, the study found. This lower core temperature was a mere 0.35 degrees celsius (about 0.63 degrees Fahrenheit), but even that small difference was enough to add up to 4.5 pounds of extra body weight every year, according to the journal editors.

Fortunately, some foods can actually boost core temperature–and help burn fat. Crank up the weight loss with these essential picks, compliments of the new book Zero Belly Diet. Those foods include iced coffee, cumin, whole grains, bananas and ginger.

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