Murdering Metabolism

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Can you “murder” your metabolism? Not really – but you can certainly screw with it’s “mind.” Let’s say, just for example, you are not consistent with your diet. You have been in and out of weight loss programs and, over the years; you gain and lose weight.

This can seriously screw up your metabolic rhythm. But it doesn’t destroy it – if your metabolism was truly murdered, you would be, too. Metabolism is merely the process by which your body converts food into energy. If it were to stop doing that, you would be dead.

You metabolism is really a collection of processes – chemical reactions – that occur throughout your body and is affected by hormones, such as insulin, the quality of food you eat and your muscle mass.

Let’s take a look at each of these separately.

Hormones
There are several hormones that affect metabolism. Thyroxine, produced by the thyroid gland in the neck, plays a key role in how fast or slow your metabolism functions. That’s why people with low thyroid hormones have difficulty with weight gain – their metabolism has slowed down.

Insulin, produced by the pancreas in the abdomen, regulates glucose in the blood. Glucose is a form of sugar that the body uses for fuel. All food has to be broken down into glucose for the body to use it. What you eat determines how much insulin needs to be secreted by the pancreas – too much sugar in the blood, insulin levels need to be high. People with diabetes don’t produce insulin in appropriate amounts, causing their blood sugar to go haywire.

Food Quality
Sugary foods and low-glycemic carbohydrates are converted into glucose much more swiftly than other types of food. If your body receives too much glucose – regardless of how it got it – it converts it into fat for storage and use later. This is why you should avoid eating too many sugary snacks and low-glycemic carbohydrates (like white bread).

Muscle Mass
The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate can be. This is because muscles require a lot of energy to function. This is why weight training is often recommended for weight loss.

So, now that you know a little bit more about what affects your metabolism, you can make more educated choices in what you eat and how you exercise.