How many times have you blamed your weight on your metabolic rate? A sentence that I hear quite frequently is “I think I have a slow metabolism”. But what is your metabolic rate and are there some things that you can do to make it more efficient?
Do you know what is meant by metabolism? Put simply, it refers to how efficiently your body digests, absorbs and processes food, and how your body then stores or uses the energy from the food eaten. A person with a higher metabolic rate will burn food more efficiently whereas someone with a slower metabolism will store food – as fat.
Your metabolic rate can be broken down into three components
Basal metabolic rate refers to the amount of energy you need to ensure that your body can keep on ticking over – in other words what energy you need for breathing and to keep your heart beating as well as fueling other essential bodily processes which keep our organs and tissues in working order. This accounts for 60-80% of our energy needs.
It is a commonly held misconception that heavier people have a slower metabolic rate and therefore can gain weight more easily. In fact, overweight people have a higher metabolic rate because they need more energy just to keep functioning. The early stages of trying to lose weight are often the most effective as a person’s metabolic rate can be higher at this time. As weight loss progresses the metabolic rate may drop (due to some muscle loss) leading to a plateau in weight loss.
Food effect (diet induced thermogenesis) – this refers to the amount of energy needed to process and digest the food you have eaten. In other words, every time you eat your body burns some energy.
So should you snack frequently instead of eating three main meals a day to try and boost your metabolism? The most important thing is to find an eating pattern that suits you. If you start including regular snacks you need to make sure that overall your energy (calorie) intake is reduced over the day if your aim is to lose weight. As a minimum your eating pattern should be based around 3 regular well balanced meals (including breakfast!) this helps to control your appetite which in turn means you are more likely to reduce your energy (calorie) intake over the day.
Physical activity – when you are physically active your muscles need to access stored energy and burn this as a fuel source. The more you exercise and the more strenuous your workout the more energy you will burn. Even when you have stopped your workout your muscles will continue to burn energy at a higher rate afterwards.
Muscle cells are about 8 times more metabolically demanding than fat cells. So the greater your proportion of muscle to fat the faster your metabolic rate will be. Maintaining or increasing your muscle mass through exercise will help ensure that your metabolic rate will not decrease as you lose weight.
It is true that as we age our metabolic rate drops. This is because our muscle mass decreases over time. Maintaining exercise as we age is one way to negate the effects of ageing.
There are many separate chemical reactions that need to take place when your body burns and stores energy. To ensure these reactions can take place our body needs a good range of nutrients each day. Choosing a wide range of foods from the four food groups each day will ensure that you get the vitamins and minerals you need to keep your body working efficiently.
So the best thing you can do for your metabolic rate is to maintain a good exercise regime, to eat regularly over the day and to eat a wide variety of foods from the four food groups with emphasis on lots of fruit, vegetables and whole grain breads and cereals.
