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8 Myths and Facts About Your Metabolism That Will Help You Understand How You Burn Calories
Metabolism and Genetics
Myth: Metabolism is genetic, can't be changed.
Your genes do influence your metabolism, but, unusual genetic conditions aside, lifestyle habits affect it more. The amount of exercise you get and the choices you make when you feed yourself are more important factors.
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Key Ideas
Skipping Breakfast
Researchers say breakfast doesn't kickstart the metabolism and may not be the most important meal of the day. Different studies have found that skipping breakfast doesn’t lead to weight increase and have no impact on resting metabolism.
Start your day with lean protein, which burns twice as many calories during digestion as fat or carbs. But don't stress about squeezing it in before 9 am.
"Hot" Workouts
They won't really help you lose weight. Research suggests regularly sleeping in colder temperatures may be optimal for weight loss as they stimulate the production of brown fat, the "good" fat. Brown fat keeps us warm by burning through "bad" fat stores.
Turn down the heat at night. You'll trim your belly and your heating bills.
Tongue-Scorching Peppers
Hot sauce can boost your metabolism. But research suggests that more-palatable, mild peppers may have the same calorie-burning potential.
Pack your salads and stir-fry with sweet peppers-including bell peppers, pimentos, rellenos, and sweet banana peppers. They're just as effective as the hot stuff.
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Key Ideas
Anabolism
Anabolism is a succession of chemical reactions that build molecules from smaller components and usually require energy. Anabolism allows the body to grow new cells and maintain all the tissues.
Catabolism
Catabolism is a series of chemical reactions that break down complex molecules into smaller units and usually release energy. Catabolism provides the energy our bodies need for all its activities.
Body Weight
It's a result of the amount of energy we release into our bodies (catabolism) minus the amount of energy our bodies use up (anabolism). The excess energy is stored either as fat or glycogen in the muscles and liver, with fat being the most caloric dense of the two.
Although becoming overweight is a result of the body storing excess energy as fat, sometimes, hormonal problems or an underlying medical condition may affect metabolism.
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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 — the brain, liver, kidneys, and heart — account for about half of the energy burned at rest, while fat, the digestive system, and especially the body's muscles account for the rest.
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.