Over 40 percent of Americans today are overweight or obese. By 2015, this amount is expected to reach a full three-quarters of the population. If you're overweight, you may have wondered, are you perhaps more predisposed to gaining weight than others because of a slow metabolism? Or maybe you know someone who has said the same thing? In reality, though, weight gain and a slow metabolism have less of a link than you may have been led to believe.
How Your Metabolism Works
As a medical term, metabolism denotes the process by which your body converts nutrients into energy after absorbing them from the food and drink you've consumed, the Mayo Clinic explains. The energy from your food, measured in calories, is combined with oxygen and changed into the fuel stored for your body's various systems, called adenosine triphosphate or ATP.
Your body constantly uses energy throughout the entire day and night, as you breathe, pump blood, repair cells and grow new ones. Your resting or basal metabolic rate is determined by three factors: age, size and gender. Larger, younger individuals tend to burn more calories, and men tend to have faster metabolisms than women. Generally, the more muscle and less fat you have, the faster your metabolism.
Metabolism and Weight Gain
Metabolism is a frequent target when it comes to assigning blame for weight gain. However, this is often unfounded; only rarely is excessive weight gain a direct result of a slow metabolism, and usually this is because of a more serious thyroid disorder. Since your basal metabolic rate is attuned to your body's specific needs, the sudden and drastic cuts in food intake such as those endorsed by starvation diets only cause your body to go into survival mode. When you end the diet, your body will return to more or less the same metabolic rate, possibly leading to another weight gain.
Other Reasons for Unintentional Weight Gain
As noted above, you can't always blame a slow metabolism for weight gain; there are many other reasons that an individual might unexpectedly gain more weight, MedlinePlus explains. Endocrine diseases such as Cushing syndrome or hypothyroidism can lead to a large weight increase. Heart or lung disorders can also have weight gain as a symptom. It may also be a combination of other factors, such as alcohol use; emotions such as guilt, depression, and anxiety; failure to get enough exercise; or quitting smoking. Some types of drugs, such as corticosteroids, tranquilizers, lithium and antidepressants, and medicines that cause increase fluid retention, can also lead to weight gain.
Losing Weight
If you're gaining weight unexpectedly, the surest way to lose it is to create a energy deficit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise. In other words, you need to burn more calories than you consume. This involves boosting your body's calorie burning by engaging in regular exercise, gradually cutting down on your usual calorie intake, or both. You don't have direct control over your metabolism, so you need to adjust it indirectly with your long-term lifestyle choices. Aerobic exercise and strength training help build muscle that burns calories. At the very least, get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and strength training every week. Avoid dietary supplements that claim to speed up your metabolism; these are frequently ineffective and may even result in harmful side effects.
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