Results from a new study have claimed that thinking too much can lead to weight gain.

Tests by a research team led by Dr. Angelo Tremblay which measured the food intake of 14 students found that participants who went through a strenuous intellectual workout consumed more calories than when they rested.

According to Psychosomatic Medicine, students took in 203 more calories after reading through a text and 253 more calories after a computer test compared to eating during a rest period.

The study's author Jean-Philippe Chaput said: "These fluctuations may be caused by the stress of intellectual work, or also reflect a biological adaptation during glucose combustion."

He added: "Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialised countries."

The study was carried out at Quebec's Universite Laval in Canada.