Let me introduce you to your metabolism
While I would love to distill a college year’s worth of nutrient metabolism into a single article, we’re going to have to go with a brief introduction. So allow me to introduce you to the nuts and bolts of your metabolism and few facts versus fiction.
Metabolism is essentially a combustion process in which every cell in your body breaks down fuel from the foods we eat. Foods containing carbohdyrates, fats, proteins, and alcohol breakdown to form energy, water, and carbon dioxide (CO2) which you breathe out. Think about that for a moment, with every breath you exhale this process has occurred. In order for this complex process to work efficiently, it relies on enzymes (made of proteins) and co-factors (vitamins and minerals) for those enzymes to work, and often the presence of oxygen.
While many disease states can interfere with this process, in a healthy adult this process happens very seamlessly. So lets talk about some myths that go around about metabolism.
Myth: Its about calories in versus calories out.
Fact: I wish it was this simple, because then it would be such an easy solution for people looking to lose or gain weight. Yes, calories (energy) we take in from our food does need to be in balance with our energy expenditure in order to maintain a health weight. The hard part is determining how many calories you need. Many factors often play a role in how efficiently this process runs including hormones, genetics around body size, adequate sleep and amount of lean muscle mass. Calculations on MyFitness Pal or various internet sources won’t be able to take that into account.
Myth: I was born with a slow metabolism and that will never change.
Fact: While it can be easier for some people to gain weight than others, often there are many things we can do to help our bodies run more efficiently. We can get yearly physicals with our GP to check out hormone levels and risk of nutrient deficiency. Addressing any hormonal imbalances, as well as common nutrient deficiencies like iron, folate, or B12 can improve the rate our bodies burn energy. We can also focus on exercises that maintain or gain lean body mass. Lean body mass is more metabolically active tissue and often predictive of a healthy system. Lastly, ensuring we get adequate sleep, meaning a restful 7-9 hours of sleep every night and addressing any sleep concerns can be an important part of our bodies holistic equation to meet our metabolic needs.
Myth: Certain foods boost metabolism.
Fact: There are some foods like caffeine or spice which can increase our thermic effect of food. This means it takes more calories to digest and absorb some nutrients. But these effects were negligable when looking at overall needs. There is unfortunately no magic food that will help speed up your metabolism.
Myth: Very low calorie diets and skipping meals will jump start weight loss.
Fact: Creating very large calorie deficits can actually backfire for many people. Your body is smart and programmed to survive. So when you create a very large difference by severely decreasing your intake, your body can think its entering a famine and will begin conserving processes. It will decrease how many processes it does per day and overall lower your metabolic rate. This means you often have to restrict more and more over time to get the same weight loss effects. And as you restrict your diet for longer periods of time, you’re more likely to develop a nutrient deficiency which will further inhibit your bodies ability to burn energy.
Myth: Eating late at night slows my metabolism.
Fact: There’s no consistent research that shows this. It doesn’t really matter how late you eat, your body operates the same. The problem with late eating is that people are more apt to eat mindlessly (i.e. eat in front of the television) where they may take in more calories (energy) than they would otherwise. It can also shift people’s circadian rhythm, meaning people who eat very late at night often go to bed late which causes them to wake up later and often skip meals like breakfast or lunch. These changes in circadian rhythm can affect how efficiently your body burns energy.
Here are some ways to support a healthy metabolism:
Aim for 7-9 hours of good sleep
Focus on maintaining and/or gaining lean body mass
Eat at consistent times throughout the day
Eat a variety of foods - not just carbohydrates, fats, and protein. But looking within those food groups to get variety. Exposure to new foods foods will have different vitamins and minerals (the co-factors needed for your metabolism)
Get a yearly physical and set of bloods eat year with your GP
