Tea Time: Scare Yourself Thin!!

By: Tala Ghalayini

You might have to read this article twice to believe it – but the title is true. A new study done at the University of Westminster has found out that viewers watching horror movies were more likely to burn calories than those watching a blank screen. How many calories exactly you ask?

Well, the equivalent of a 30-min walk or 113 calories for a 90 minute horror movie. In fact, the scarier the movie, the better! Supposedly, this is because the increased heart beat rate mimics what happens when one is exercising. Dr Richard Mackenzie, a metabolism specialist at the University, said: 'It is the release of fast-acting adrenaline, produced during short bursts of intense stress, or in this case, fear, which is known to lower the appetite, increase the basal metabolic rate and ultimately burn a higher level of calories.'

So maybe next time there's a horror flick at the cinema, don't be quick to walk away – the more the nightmares, the more the weight loss*!

*This is NOT my dietetic advice as the study was done on a very SMALL number of people, I'm just funnily reporting on what I read about. Other fun ways for weight loss at TeaCalls.com