METABOLISM: metabolism may be defined as the rate at which our body converts the food in to energy and burns it in the form of calories.
The body can lose fat or weight faster as the body burns the calories faster with the intake of same amount of food.
Metabolism may be classified in to four types namely
I Resting metabolic rate (RMR)
II Thermal effect of feeding (TEF)
III Thermal effect of activity (TEA)
IV Adaptive thermo genesis (AT)
Resting metabolic rate (RMR): RMR is the largest portion of the metabolism accounting up to 75% of total energy expenditure which automates the processes and sustain to live, such as action of digestive system, cardiovascular system, hormonal systems, maintenance of body temperature and conductance of electrical transmission through nervous system.
Thermal effect of feeding (TEF): It is the total sum of the calories for the energetic process required to digest, absorb, transport, metabolize and store our meal. It accounts to 10% of the energy expenditure.
Thermal effect of activity (TEA): Accounting up to 30% of the daily energy expenditure, this energy is required for the physical activity of day today life.
Adaptive thermo genesis (AT): It is the bodies reaction system which adapts itself depending on the external and the internal metabolism such as mental stress, physical stress, temperature and hormonal level.
Ways to boost metabolism:
There are many ways to boost your metabolism but the effective ways proved as follows.
Drink more water: In order to stay hydrated before every meal a glass of water or an unsweetened beverage may fast up the metabolism. Generally dehydration slows up the metabolism and the body needs water to burn up the calories. Instead of pretzels or chips eating fresh fruits and vegetable full of fluid would prove to be a healthy practice because the calorie burning process of metabolism requires water to work effectively.
Aerobic exercises: Generally aerobic exercises never builds up muscle but do raises the heart rate and sustains the activity approximately for thirty minutes which is necessary to burn different quantities of calories at least for 3 to 4 times a week. It increases the Resting metabolic rate than moderate or low work outs. To enjoy more benefits trying out with a gym class, jogging during regular walk, running swimming, biking, dancing are the best cardio exercises that use lots of energy and burns of calories to kick start the metabolism and the best time would be the morning hours.
Do weights: Muscle tends to remain metabolically active and it burn calories even while resting. For promoting muscle growth you can go ahead with weight training for 3-4 times a week for half an hour. Muscles burns more calories than fat, for 1 lb of muscle pack you burn 50 calories a day without an extra effort. It’s the best way to boost metabolism for the long run.
Increase RMR: RMR is found to be higher in people with more muscle which constantly burn calories even while we do nothing. Every pound of muscle needs 6 calories a day to sustain itself while fat burns up only 2 calories a day. Increase in RMR is simply necessary to burn 60-70% of the calories daily so the more muscle we build the increase in RMR will be experienced.
Eating more often: Having a snack every 2 to 3 hours will elicit high metabolic rate which make you burn more calories over the course of the day. Hence eating more often will help you in losing weight. Metabolism tends to slow down when we eat large meals with a extended time gap in between. Skipping meals cannot help in burning calories or lose weight infact having small frequent meals helps in eating less over all. Extending the time gap between meals takes our body in to starvation mode which slows down the metabolism as a means to conserve energy and prevent the starvation. Eating smaller meals will allow you to use TEF which burn off your calories and keep your metabolism at peak.
Skipping break fast: You go under the fasting phase while sleeping in the night during when the metabolism tends to slow down. To kick start the metabolism eating breakfast must be the first thing in the morning to signal to your body that your not fasting anymore so that it resumes its normal metabolic rate without remaining in to starvation mode ( thinking that your starving).
Eat right: To boost up the metabolism eating right food is necessarily important, a wholesome breakfast, nourishing lunch, a snack in the evening and a light dinner. Eating more often will kick the metabolic rate which would burn your calories.
Eat protein: Nutritious meals like lean proteins such as fish, chicken should be included because the body needs more energy to digest protein than fat and carbohydrates.
Fiber foods: Like fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains like bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice take longer time to digest and burn of more calories. A healthy person needs to consume 1200 calories/day to keep his basal metabolic rate at a normal condition.
Spicy meal: Foods like pasta dishes, chili and stews with red pepper flakes may benefit for a quick boost of the metabolism. They contain a chemical compound which gears up the metabolism to the peak. A tablespoon of green chili, red chili or pepper can temporarily boost up to 23% and it lasts for half an hour.
Low carbohydrate diet: The body converts fats and protein in to carbohydrates, so when a low carbohydrate is taken it burns more calories through a chemical reaction called as Tricarboxylic acid cycle or Krebs cycle. This happens because different forms of glucose is used for our energy requirements
Low carbohydrates diet makes a man to be a vitamin deficient because carbohydrate is a necessary ingredient during the absorption of vitamins in the intestine. Whole milk and cheese helps in preventing gaining weight in women when compared to low fat milk. Soy products are excellent substitute for dairy.
Avoid smoking: Avoid smoking as a weight loss method because it burns calories but it tends to suppress the appetite which may adversely benefit you.
Drink black coffee: Apart form drinking 8 glasses of water/day drinking black coffee as a morning ritual would benefit. The caffeine will prompt to burn 50 calories but this benefit is linked to a short term increase of the metabolic rate. Cream, sugar should be avoided along with the coffee as the sugar substitutes adversely affect the weight loss.
Drink green tea: Drinking green tea will boost the metabolism for about 2 hours equivalent to the action of two chemical substances such as caffeine and catechins. Drinking 3 cups of tea a day may enhance 5 pounds of weight loss in a year.
Factors influencing metabolism:
Certain factors could not be changed such as Age, Sex and Heredity.
Age: metabolism decreases for about 5 percentages after the age 40.
Sex: men tend to possess more muscle and hence burn more calorie compared to women.
Heredity: metabolic rate is generally inherited.
Hyperthyroidism or Hypothyroidism may increase or decrease the metabolic rate but very less percentage of population is affected.
Apart from all weight loss measures it is also necessary to be on the safer side that the measures in the later stages would not cause any adverse effects or benefits. In order to avoid all these hurdles during the course, calculation of RMR is also important from time to time during the course.
The diet must be adjusted as per the RMR from time to time for a person who diets. RMR Could be interchangeably called as BMR (basal metabolic rate).
The RMR is calculated using Mifflin st jeor equation.
RMR: 9.99w + 6.25s – 4.92a +166g-161.
Where w= weight in kilograms.
s= height in centimeters.
a= age in years.
g= 1 for males and 0 for females.
The value of RMR calculated using this formula must be multiplied by 1.15
E.g. if RMR= 2500 calories then 2500*1.15.
To be on the safer side never exceed or lower the caloric intake but your calculated RMR.
