Metabolism is a chemical process present in every living organism which helps to make energy from the food we consume, transferring this energy to different cells and organs in order to sustain life. Metabolism not only takes care of energy production and distribution but also helps with removing toxins from the body.
Knowing more about metabolism can help you in your weight loss journey. Even if you are fit, you can use these facts to maintain your health.
- BMR is the only thing that matters:
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is not the only factor that you should be concerned about (even though it tells you how much energy you need to maintain the basic functions of the body to stay alive). Around 65 to 70% of your total calorie expenditure accounts for BMR. So, it is important to calculate BMR when you want to lose weight.
But you need RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) too because then you know how many calories are actually burning while you are at rest. That helps you to know the exact amount you need to consume to maintain a healthy weight.
2. Maximum energy use happens through Basal Metabolic Rate:
It’s true. Because the body burns energy in 3 ways:
- Energy used for necessary functions (BMR)-more than 60 to 70% of energy burned.
- Energy used to break down food (also known as the thermic effect of Food)-10% of the calories burned.
- Energy used in Physical activity- And this is only 20 to 30% of energy burned. It’s more in athletes because they do more physical training.
Now, you know why exercise and physical activity isn’t working for you.
3. Metabolism slows down as you age:
Well, it is true. As you age your physical activity starts to go down and the calorie intake stays the same, leading your body to save up that energy as fats in the body, increasing your weight. So, as you age maintaining good body weight becomes more of a challenge due to slow metabolism.
4. Speeding up metabolism is possible with certain foods:
While that is true -the effects are quite negligible and short-lived. Foods like coffee, green chilies, and some spices come under this category that affects the BMR.
5. Dieting can slow the metabolism:
Dieting may slow down your metabolism but in most cases. You may end up gaining more weight because when you diet, the body is programmed to start using fewer calories for work and start storing more. So, instead of crash dieting, replace your daily diet with healthy vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. that have fewer calories and more fiber and nutrients and are really effective for your weight loss.
6. More muscles mean faster metabolism:
Building more muscles can be marginally effective as muscle takes up more energy than fat at rest. So, building more muscle and reducing fat helps to increase resting metabolism and burn more energy in your body. But here comes the problem, to build more muscle mass you need to consume more calories. And to burn those calories you need to maintain a high-intensity workout which is not possible all the time and is hard for most people.
You can’t really change how your metabolism works. What you can change is your diet, and physical activity to manage your weight.
Want to know how your metabolism works?
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