Metabolism and the Factors That Affect It

Metabolism is a series of chemical reactions that take place in your body. Metabolism has multiple important purposes. It converts energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes. It also facilitates the conversion of food to building blocks for lipids, nucleic acids, proteins and some carbohydrates; as well as supports the elimination of metabolic wastes. A higher metabolic rate typically leads to more calories being burned, which helps in maintaining or losing weight. To know more about metabolism, you can always read books by authors like Dr Brian Fertig. Through the book “Metabolism & Medicine,” he provides a model to revolutionize medicine and medical training.

An introduction to metabolism and the factors that affect it

You can say that metabolism encompasses all the chemical reactions that take place continuously within the body in order to maintain life. This rate is influenced by multiple components, including the physical activity energy expenditure, the thermic effect of food (TEF), and the basal metabolic rate (BMR). The BMR implies to the number of calories needed to keep your body functioning at rest. It comprises of around 60-75% of your daily energy expenditure. On the other hand, TEF represents calories used for digesting, absorbing and metabolizing food. It accounts for approximately 10% of energy use. Physical activity moreover does not only include the deliberate exercise you may engage in, but also considers the incidental movement throughout the day.  These components together determine the amount of energy used by your body.

There are several factors that affect metabolism, including:

• Genetics: Certain genetic factors may determine your ability to build muscle mass, as well as how much energy your body needs.
• Body size and muscle mass: Larger bodies have higher basal metabolic rate and more metabolic tissue requiring more calories. Muscles burn calories much faster than fat cells.
• In most cases, men have faster metabolisms as they have larger bodies and more muscle mass in comparison to women.
• Physical activity: Exercise causes the body to burn more calories in comparison to when a person is sedentary.
• Age: It is believed that metabolism slows as you age.  However, age itself is not usually the problem. As you get older, you may have less muscle mass, might not be too physically active, or follow a diet that does not meet your body’s needs, all of which impact your metabolism.
• Sleep: Sleep does assist in regulating blood sugar. Lack of sleep may cause your body to experience trouble with blood sugar levels, which leads to a lack of energy.

Endocrine disorders like hypothyroidism may affect metabolism, and cause it to be slower. Many metabolic disorders can also affect the body. Such disorders can cause a buildup of fatty substances in organs or an excess of minerals.

If you liked reading this article, then you may also be interested in the books by Dr Brian Fertig. He has decades of clinical experience in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism, and has written a two-volume series called “Metabolism & Medicine.”