What Is Metabolism?

Answer:

The word “metabolism” comes from the Greek noun metabole, meaning “change”, and the Greek verb metaballein, meaning “to change”. Metabolism is the sum total of all the changes (chemical reactions) occurring in the body’s cells. It includes all of the catabolic reactions (catabolism means breaking down) as well as all of the anabolic reactions (anabolism refers to building).

• the breakdown of muscle glycogen into individual molecules of glucose
• the release of fat (free fatty acids) from adipose tissue
• the breakdown of muscle tissue to release amino acids

• the formation of glycogen from glucose
• the formation of proteins from amino acids
• the formation of storage fat from fatty acids

In short, metabolism is the amount of energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, cleaning etc., your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going.

Someone with a high metabolic rate is able to burn calories more efficiently than someone with a slower metabolic rate. Assuming these two people eat roughly the same amount of calories, the individual with a faster metabolic rate “burns up” more of the calories she eats; the person who has the slower metabolism doesn’t burn all the calories taken in, so the extra calories are “saved” and then converted to fat.

If you’ve noticed that your metabolism has seemed to slow as the years have flashed by, you are not imagining things, and you aren’t alone. The speedier metabolisms seem to go to males, rather than females; those who exercise regularly, rather than those who don’t; and to younger people, rather than older people.

The best way to jump-start your metabolism is to exercise. Exercise will reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. By increasing lean muscle mass, metabolism will increase and aid in the weight-loss process. Muscle tissue uses more calories than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic rate. Aerobic exercise, like walking, swimming or cycling, has the added bonus of speeding up your metabolism for 4 to 8 hours after you stop exercising. Additional calories will be burned off long after you stop exercising.

Researchers have also found that you can speed up your metabolism by eating five or six very small meals a day. These should be spaced three to three and a half hours apart throughout the day. Eating in this manner causes your metabolism to work harder than when you eat the usual three larger meals a day.