Burning Calories Throughout Your Day – NEAT!

NEAT, or Non-exercise activity thermogenesis can help you. Thermogenesis is the generation of energy as we all go through our day moving about and burning calories to various degrees. It’s true that some are going to work, some are moving about the house, some are going to school, or are immobilized by an injury or an illness. Some might even go to a gym or play sports. We move to the degree that we can. The concept of NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, refers to all of the calories a person burns throughout their daily activity, excluding those activities that amount to purposeful exercise. Walking up the stairs, for example rather than using the elevator, would create a different amount of calorie burn. Maximizing these lower-effort activities can add a lot to your metabolic health. Lower health can lead to intensification of pain symptoms,  vulnerability to injury or delayed healing.  Burning calories throughout your day – NEAT!

Is NEAT different for different people?

NEAT involves all the of energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, cleaning the house, and even fidgeting.  All this actually adds up to TEE, which is Total Energy Expenditure. Mayo Clinic, with Dr James Levine in the lead, found that people can have dramatically different levels of NEAT,  often related to their job and the environment they live in, as well as their natural drive to get up and move their bodies around.  The screen-based and automated lives so many of us tend to lead these days gives us a lot of opportunity to add in lifestyle changes that can add a lot. It simply requires a shift in mindset.

It’s this kind of thinking that shows, for example, how adding a standing desk to keep yourself moving during your otherwise seated day can add up to a thermogenic burn – NEAT. 

What’s are some Examples of Increasing NEAT?

Compared to the exercise you do in a gym, or sustained training that you do at home, NEAT is everything else. So if you can increase your “Non Exercise Thermogenesis”, you can increase your metabolism of excess calories.  Recognizing that you are burning calories throughout your day is NEAT. Some examples of ways to increase NEAT include:

Taking the stairs
Parking further away
Going Food shopping in a store versus having delivery
Cleaning the House
Playing with the Kids a little more than usual
Doing heel/calf raises while sitting
Dancing gently at a Standing Desk with a sit/stand timer

What treatments are available that involve NEAT?

There are many different treatments available at Blue Heron. Once we have dealt with the particular issue and often a presenting symptom – such as pain – we are going to look beyond that to try to help you improve your function. We try to cover all of the bases. The word here is optimization, and increasing NEAT is a way of optimizing the way you live your life when you are not exercising or training or performing or living at your fullest. A well rounded treatment plan is going to involve looking at boosting your NEAT.

Is NEAT important for Pain Management?

Attending to NEAT certainly addresses the way your body is going to handle pain. If your vitality is elevated, your pain management is likely to be improved or more readily adressable.  NEAT sustains  a “slow burn in between the big burns”.  While you are already doing it, it can be optumized.  Since Doctor Dana Sibilla is trained in chiropractic orthopedics as well as chiropractic physiotherapy, bodywork/massage, exercise and fitness, Blue Heron Chiropractic at 1934 NE Broadway in Portland is an ideal place to come to get some answers and find a solution to health issues, including promotion of vitality.  Don’t be surprised if he asks you a question about your NEAT. Let’s get you an appointment.

Is Blue Heron Chiropractic masking for the COVID-19 Pandemic at this time?

The Covid 19 Pandemic has changed again, with the new increased incidence of the Eris subvariant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The early data on this variant is that it was an “advantageous mutation”. With the current Covid-19 variants posing perhaps less risk to certain individuals, masking is now optional. Staff will still currently be masking inside the clinic. Doctor Sibilla may continue to wear a mask for some time. We may ask some questions and temperature scan if a patient has flu-like symptoms, but we would have done that anyway, because this is a doctor’s office, right? In any event, it is so easy to do, and simply provides more information. If you would like a mask and don’t have one, we can provide you with one. We will continue to encourage patients with notable flu-like symptoms to contact us before coming in so we can coordinate all aspects to serve you better.  Access Chiropractic safely and securely at Blue Heron Chiropractic & Healing Arts Center, with Dr. Dana Sibilla, DC DABCO FIANM.