Being smart can make you fat? That’s what researchers are telling us now.

Think of it as a great opportunity (or excuse) to work a little aerobics action and an exercise routine into your procurement and purchasing desk duties. Jumping jacks and push-ups behind the desk, for the truly motivated.

A recent study concluded that people involved in intellectual activities tended to load up on more calories than couch potatoes.

Test subjects who’d worked on computers consumed nearly 30% more calories than people who twiddled their thumbs, according to research published in Psychosomatic Medicine.

One reason? Brain cells need twice as much energy as the other cells in your body. Intellectual stimulation has greater impact on the body’s glucose levels. The natural reaction is for the body to demand more glucose. Since the body can’t create its own glucose, the hands get busy and the mouth starts chomping — processing food into glucose.

The main concern arises when these two conditions clash: Intellectual tasks are generally done while the body is less active; the subsequent increase in calorie consumption can go straight to the waist (not to the head).

At least it provides you with a convenient excuse the next time your mother-in-law or family physician chides you about your weight. “A wide waste reflects a bigger brain!”

Tags: brain, procurement, purchasing