Captain Moonlight's Notebook

A MOST unusual piece of clothing - green with holes in it - comes through the post, courtesy of a biochemist from Birmingham. It reminds me of my daughter's 'grunge' outfits. But I am told it will help me lose weight without changing my diet or taking additional exercise. The technique is called Clotherapy and involves uncovering those parts of your body where brown fat accumulates; in other words the most sweaty parts - breastbone, armpits, groin and spine. Brown fat, a leaflet says, has more blood than ordinary white and yellow fat, and cool temperatures encourage it to convert the other fats into energy.

'Think of the body as a house,' it says. 'When the central heating is running if you open all the windows more heat goes out and you use up more fuel.'

I think I prefer to have my windows shut in this weather. I might change my mind in the summer.