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The myth of the slow metabolism
What Science Doesn’t Know
- A diet that universally leads to healthy weight loss.
- Why two people with the same size and body composition have different metabolic rates.
- Why some ethnic groups — African Americans, South Asians — have a higher risk of developing metabolic disorders like diabetes.
- How the brain knows what the body weighs
- The mechanism that controls our metabolic rate.
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Key Ideas
Metabolism
It refers to the thousands of chemical reactions that turn what we eat and drink into fuel in every cell of the body. These reactions change in response to our environments and behaviors, and in ways we have little control over.
Metabolism is not a single thing that can be calibrated with “metabolism boosters” like chili peppers or coffee, or by following special diets.
How The Body Uses Calories
- Basal metabolism is the energy our body needs to keep our cells working and accounts for 65-80% of most adults' caloric consumption.
- The thermic effect of food is the energy our body uses to process food and accounts for 10% of most adults' caloric consumption.
- Physical activity accounts for 10 - 30 % of most people’s caloric consumption .
Controlling Your Own Weight
Not everyone overeats and becomes overweight, and not everyone who becomes overweight or obese develops illnesses like diabetes or heart disease.
There was never a special diet, exercise regimen, or supplement that worked universally to control weight. Through trial and error, we have to discover habits and routines we can stick with that help us eat less and move more.
Research On Metabolism
- A caloric deficit leads us to unknowingly compensate by eating more.
- For some, crash dieting can permanently slow their metabolic rate, leading to longer calorie retention.
- Bodies don’t burn more body fat while on a high-fat and low-carb ketogenic diet, compared to a higher-carb diet.
- Many underestimate their calorie intake and blame genetics.
- “Slow metabolism” isn’t a major cause of obesity, and no product will speed your metabolism up in a way that will lead to substantial slimming.
- Lean muscle and fat tissue in the body, age, and genetics, among others, influence the metabolic rate.
- Women tend to burn fewer calories than men.
What Science Doesn’t Know
- A diet that universally leads to healthy weight loss.
- Why two people with the same size and body composition have different metabolic rates.
- Why some ethnic groups — African Americans, South Asians — have a higher risk of developing metabolic disorders like diabetes.
- How the brain knows what the body weighs
- The mechanism that controls our metabolic rate.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Calories burned every day
The calories we burn every day include not only movement but all the energy needed to run the thousands of functions that keep us alive.
Exercise and health
Exercise is like a wonder drug for many health outcomes: reducing blood pressure, reduces the risk of diabetes of heart diseases and slows developing cognitive impairment from Alzheimer's and dementia.
But as for losing weight, it helps more in weight maintenance than in losing the actual weight.
Human energy balance
Exercise alone has a modest contribution to weight loss. But when you alter one component, cutting the number of calories you eat in a day to lose weight, doing more exercise than usual, this sets off a cascade of changes in the body that affect how many calories you use up and, in turn, your bodyweight.
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Key Ideas
Your metabolism
It is in every cell in your body. It refers to a series of chemical processes in each cell that turn the calories you eat into fuel to keep you alive.
The body's major organs — th...
How we burn energy
There are 3 main ways:
- the basal metabolism, the energy used for your body's basic functioning while at rest
- the energy used to break down food (also known as the thermic effect of food)
- the energy used in physical activity.
Most of the energy you burn is from your resting metabolism.
Metabolism variations
Metabolism can vary a lot between people, and researchers don't understand why.
2 people with the same size and body composition can have different metabolic rates. One can consume a huge meal and gain no weight, while the other has to carefully count calories to not gain weight.
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Key Ideas
Eat Plenty of Protein at Every Meal
Eating food increases your metabolism for a while because extra calories are required to process your meal. This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF).
Protein increases your metaboli...
Drink More Cold Water
Drinking water may speed up your metabolism for about an hour. This calorie-burning effect may be even greater if you drink cold water, as your body uses energy to heat it.
Drinking water can also help you fill up and help you eat less, especially if you drink it half an hour before you eat.
Do a High-Intensity Workout
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves short, intense bursts of activity and help you burn more fat by increasing your metabolic rate.
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