Be cold! Lose weight!

That's the mantra of an increasing number of scientists these days. The basic idea is that because your body uses energy to maintain a normal body temperature, exposure to cold expends calories. Ergo, you'll lose weight if you spend some time each day being cold. There is even a product to provide that daily cold. The ice vest is loaded with ice packs. The inventor of the product, a UCAL professor, claims that wearing it for an hour burns up to 250 calories. Do it twice a day and you've lost 500 calories.

The leader in this movement is Ray Cronise, a former NASA scientist, whose job was to keep astronauts healthy in sub-zero temperatures of space. Cronise's first test of his theory was to take cold showers and shirtless walks in winter, and he lost 26.7 pounds in six weeks. He points out that other animals make changes depending on the season, we don't because we live mainly in a warm environment. Note that Cronise is not saying we should try to live in very cold temperatures, the 50s are low enough for losing weight.