What is Metabolism?
This word “metabolism” is thrown around a lot
these
days.
You
know that if yours is too slow you might gain weight. But what exactly does this all mean?
Well
technically “metabolism” is the word to describe all of the biochemical
reactions in your body. It's how you
take in nutrients and oxygen and use them to fuel everything you do.
Your
body has an incredible ability to grow, heal, and generally stay alive. And without this amazing biochemistry you would not be possible.
Metabolism includes how the cells in your body:
●
Allow activities you can control (e.g. physical activity
etc.).
●
Allow activities you can't control (e.g. heart beat, wound
healing, processing of nutrients & toxins, etc.).
●
Allow storage of excess energy for later.
So
when you put all of these processes together into your metabolism you can imagine that these processes
can work too quickly, too slowly, or just right.
Which
brings us to the “metabolic rate”.
Metabolic
rate
This
is how fast your metabolism works and is measured
in calories (yup, those calories!).
The
calories you eat can go to one of three places:
●
Work (i.e. exercise and other activity).
●
Heat (i.e. from all those biochemical reactions).
●
Storage (i.e. extra leftover “unburned” calories stored as
fat).
As
you can imagine the more calories you burn as work or creating heat the easier
it is to lose weight and keep it off because there will be fewer “leftover”
calories to store for later.
There
are a couple of different ways to measure metabolic rate. One is the “resting metabolic rate” (RMR)
which is how much energy your body uses when you're not being physically
active.
The
other is the “total daily energy expenditure” (TDEE) which measures both the
resting metabolic rate as well as the energy used for “work” (e.g. exercise)
throughout a 24-hour period.
What
affects your metabolic rate?
In
a nutshell: a lot!
The
first thing you may think of is your thyroid.
This gland at the front of your throat releases hormones to tell your
body to “speed up” your metabolism. Of
course, the more thyroid hormone there is the faster things will work and the
more calories you'll burn.
But
that's not the only thing that affects your metabolic rate.
How
big you are counts too!
Larger
people have higher metabolic rates; but your body composition is crucial!
As
you can imagine muscles that actively move and do work need more energy than
fat does. So the more lean muscle mass
you have the more energy your body will burn and the higher your metabolic rate
will be. Even when you're not working
out.
This
is exactly why weight training is often recommended as a part of a weight loss
program. Because you want muscles to be
burning those calories for you.
The
thing is, when people lose weight their metabolic rate often slows down which
you don't want to happen. So you definitely want to offset that with
more muscle mass.
Aerobic
exercise also temporarily increases your metabolic rate. Your muscles are burning fuel to move so
they're doing “work”.
The
type of food you eat also affects your metabolic rate!
Your
body actually burns calories to absorb, digest, and metabolize your food. This is called the “thermic effect of food”
(TEF).
You
can use it to your advantage when you understand how your body metabolizes
foods differently.
Fats,
for example increase your TEF by 0-3%; carbs increase it by 5-10%, and protein
increases it by 15-30%. By trading some
of your fat or carbs for lean protein you can slightly increase your metabolic
rate.
Another
bonus of protein is that your muscles need it to grow. By working them out and feeding them what
they need they will help you to lose weight and keep it off.
And
don't forget the mind-body connection.
There is plenty of research that shows the influence that things like
stress and sleep have on the metabolic rate.
This
is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to metabolism and how so many
different things can work to increase (or decrease) your metabolic rate.
Recipe (Lean Protein): Lemon Herb
Roasted Chicken Breasts
Serves
4
2
lemons, sliced
1
tablespoon rosemary
1
tablespoon thyme
2
cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4
chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
dash
salt & pepper
1
tablespoon extra virgin olive old
Preheat
oven to 425F. Layer ½ of the lemon
slices on the bottom of a baking dish.
Sprinkle with ½ of the herbs and ½ of the sliced garlic.
Place
the chicken breasts on top and sprinkle salt & pepper. Place remaining lemon, herbs and garlic on
top of the chicken. Drizzle with olive
oil. Cover with a lid or foil.
Bake
for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
If you want the chicken to be a bit more “roasty” then remove the
lid/foil and broil for another few minutes (watching carefully not to burn it).
Serve
& enjoy!
Tip: You can add a leftover sliced chicken breast to your salad
for lunch the next day!
References:
