How is weight gain or loss affected by metabolism?

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Metabolism refers to the countless chemical processes going on continuously inside the body that allow life and normal functioning. The amount of kilojoules your body burns at any given time is affected by your metabolism. Your metabolic rate is influenced by many factors – including age, gender, muscle-to-fat ratio, amount of physical activity, and hormone function. Our metabolism is complex – put simply it has two parts, which are carefully regulated by the body to make sure they remain in balance. They are:

Catabolism – The breakdown of food components (such as carbohydrates, proteins, and dietary fats) into their simpler forms, which can then be used to provide energy and the basic building blocks needed for growth and repair.

Anabolism – The part of metabolism in which our body is built or repaired. Anabolism requires energy that ultimately comes from our food. When we eat more than we need for daily anabolism, the excess nutrients are typically stored in our body as fat.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is influenced by multiple factors working in combination, including:

1. Body size – Larger adult bodies have more metabolizing tissue and a larger BMR.

2. Amount of lean muscle tissue – Muscle burns kilojoules rapidly.

3. Amount of body fat: Fat cells are ‘sluggish’ and burn far fewer kilojoules than most other tissues and organs of the body.

Crash dieting, starving, or fasting eating too few kilojoules encourages the body to slow the metabolism to conserve energy. BMR can drop by up to 15 percent and if lean muscle tissue is also lost, this further reduces BMR.

Age: Metabolism slows with age due to loss of muscle tissue, but also due to hormonal and neurological changes.

Growth: Infants and children have higher energy demands per unit of body weight due to the energy demands of growth and the extra energy needed to maintain their body temperature.

Gender: Generally, men have faster metabolisms because they tend to be larger.

Genetic predisposition: Your metabolic rate may be partly decided by your genes.

Hormonal and nervous controls: BMR is controlled by the nervous and hormonal systems. Hormonal imbalances can influence how quickly or slowly the body burns kilojoules.

Environmental temperature: If the temperature is very low or very high, the body has to work harder to maintain its normal body temperature, which increases the BMR.

Infection or illness: BMR increases because the body has to work harder to build new tissues and to create an immune response.

Amount of physical activity: Hard-working muscles need plenty of energy to burn. Regular exercise increases muscle mass and teaches the body to burn kilojoules at a faster rate, even when at rest.

Drugs like caffeine or nicotine can increase the BMR.

Dietary deficiencies, for example, a diet low in iodine reduces thyroid function and slow metabolism.

A rise in the BMR can range between 2 to 30 percent, depending on the size of the meal and the types of foods eaten. Different foods raise BMR by differing amounts. For example, fats raise the BMR 0 to 5 percent, carbohydrates raise the BMR 5 to 10 percent, proteins raise the BMR 20 to 30 percent, hot and spicy foods (for example, foods containing chili, horseradish, and mustard) can have a significant thermic effect.

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