Getting the lowdown on your metabolism

Slow Metabolism Explained

Slow metabolism may be the reason why your body doesn’t burn calories as effective as in some other people. When someone consults the doctor about slow metabolism, usual problem is the amount of food the patient is eating. Many of us tend to miscalculate how much we actually eat and instead blame their metabolism for being too slow.

Earlier, it was really hard to determine if someone’s metabolism is too ineffective, since used methods were costly and impractical. However, things have changed and now every patient may get metabolism results in 15 minutes or so. These new methods determine resting metabolic rate or RMR, which is simply the amount of energy our body needs to perform the most basic functions. Everything we do demands certain energy, including the actions such as breathing, circulation and digestion. About 70% of the energy we use during the day is spent on these basic actions and the rest is what we need to walk, talk or actually work and exercise.

So, when we exercise there is little chance to lose excess weight if we don’t eat accordingly. Just exercising won’t help, because only small amount of energy is used for that purpose. The problem with slow metabolism is that even if we eat exactly the same amount of food as someone with faster metabolism, there are high chances to gain some weight. Obese people have extremely slow metabolism. Their problem with weight might get even more out of proportion because they continue to accumulate the weight although they never increase the amount of food they eat.

Possible Causes of Slow Metabolism

There are several causes of abnormally low metabolism rate. High percentage of body fat and loss of the muscles due to the inactivity or the aging process are known to slow down the metabolism. Also, people suffering from pre-diabetes, diabetes or under-active thyroid gland may experience decreased RMR. In some cases, low metabolism can be something you inherited from your parents.

Boosting Up Slow Metabolism

Slow metabolism can be boosted and people who exercise regularly for a long time can speed up their metabolism and burn more calories this way. Gaining the muscles and losing excess weight can do wanders for your metabolism. In some cases, doctors reported increase of amazing 20% in the RMR, when the patient lost 20 pounds of excess weight. This is extremely important fact, so if you want to speed your metabolism, you know what to do.