What is Metabolism
No discussion of nutrition would be complete without a discussion of metabolism.
The term metabolism is derived from the Greek language, and simply means change or transformation. Metabolism relates to various processes within the body that convert food and other substances into energy and other metabolic byproducts that are used to maintain and sustain the body. Metabolism is a necessary function that allows our bodies to use food and other resources to maintain the working parts, repair damage, heal injury, fight disease, and rid the body of toxins. In other words, metabolism is a necessary process, without which all living organisms would die.
Metabolism is the amount of energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself and perform the activities and duties required. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, working on a computer, cleaning, reading a book, playing, or exercising, your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going and to maintain and sustain your body.
Metabolism is most affected by the following factors:
- Nutrition – the types and amount of food eaten,
- Hydration – the amount of water drunk,
- Level of physical activity,
- Bone structure, body type, genetic make-up, and, body composition - the amount of muscle you have versus the amount of fat.
Muscle tissue uses more calories to maintain itself than fatty tissue. So, people who are more muscular (and have a lower percentage of body fat) tend to have a higher metabolism than those who are less muscular or who have a higher percentage of body fat.
People who are more active or exercise more also burn more calories than someone who is less active, so these people also have a higher metabolism.
Now that we understand what metabolism is, the easiest ways to increase your metabolism should be quite obvious – increase your muscle mass and be more active.
You can increase your muscle mass by resistance exercises, such as weight lifting, push-ups, sit-ups, etc..
You can decrease the amount of fat in your body by doing aerobic exercise at least 3 days a week for longer than 20 minutes. Aerobic exercises include walking, jogging, step aerobics, hi/low aerobics, biking, swimming, and so on. These exercises increase your heart-rate into the "fat burning" target zone (also called training zone) and keep it there for the duration of the exercise session.
To maintain your body and keep up these higher levels of activity, you also need to eat. Do not diet ! However, do watch the types of foods you eat, and try and eat a diet that is lower in fat and sugar. Checking the labels on the foods that you buy is a great way to monitor the proportions of sugar and fat in the foods that you eat.
|