Nine Half-Truths About Metabolism

How many times have you heard someone blaming their genetics and poor metabolism to justify not being able to lose weight? Psychologically, this is probably a coping mechanism to justify and come to term’s with one’s laziness. Of course, there are people who genuinely get the short end of the stick on this one, but the extent to which they use it as a trump card is rather cringe worthy.

Experts generally agree that the process of your body converting food into energy  rarely the cause of having excess weight. In general, and for most people weight loss can be brought about by consuming fewer calories than the rate by which they are burnt. Of course, it does come with a few caveats and other factors, but that is generally what it is. Nevertheless, since today’s topic is metabolism, we’re here to clarify a few of these half-truths.

One: Reduced Calorie Intake (We’re Talking Under 1,000 cal/day) Results In Weight Loss

Interesting that we are using up the first point of this list to address a caveat which we refer to above. While it sounds logical in theory, such a drastic reduction will actually slow down metabolism greatly. Think about what happens when you fuel a car with watered-down fuel. Same rationale! A more logical way of going about things is to reduce your calorie intake slowly and gradually so that your metabolism doesn’t slow down. Capische?

Two: Rapid Weight Loss Speeds Up Metabolism

Three: Breakfast Helps Rev Up Metabolism

The jury is out with this one – or not? There is no evidence to suggest that breakfast influences weight loss success, even though the theoretical underpinning of it seems resolute. It’s an individual decision. However, the most important thing, from the viewpoint of understanding its effect on metabolism, is that one should get enough calories and nutrients from high quality food.

Four: Not Having Lunch Slows Down Metabolism

I would classify this as a half-truth, realistically speaking. There is a case for not skipping lunch, but that falls more along the lines of hormonal problems rather than metabolism. Now, no weight loss guru has an objection to the skipping of an occasional meal, but making a habit of it can unduly stress your body systems. With regards to metabolism, it probably will be affected albeit indirectly so.

Five: Grazing Is Best For Metabolism

This is a very common one – the suggestion that instead of having three big meals, one should aspire to snack throughout the day instead. And truth be told, this does work for some people but not everyone. Actually, experts recommend that the digestive system probably needs a rest between meals. Also important to note is that if grazing is not done carefully, it can result in higher calorie intake. So yes, in some way it can rev up metabolism, but not sufficient to burn off the extra stuff you’re eating.

Six: Food Eaten At Night Turns Into Fat

This theory is based upon the principle that metabolism slows down a lot at night. That is, at best, a half truth. Does metabolism slow down at all at night? Well, yes, due to hormonal fluctuations. Does the extent to which affect weight loss? Not particularly, unless of course the food you eat at night is in excess to what you eat during the day.

Seven: There’s Nothing You Can Do About Your Metabolism

By this stage of the article, I hope that your initial belief in this, if you had any, has been relinquished by now. However, there is more to the story than we had covered. The foods that you eat do have an influence on your metabolism. “Clean eating practices”, so to speak, can help increase one’s metabolism, so can strength training that builds muscle. An overlooked factor in the equation is the amount of sleep, which can influence hormones that ultimately affect metabolism too.

Eight: Drink More Energy Drinks To Boost Your Metabolism

To be fair, this is true to a limited extent, because some of the chemicals in energy drinks are stimulants. But this is not always a positive thing. If your drink is sugar-laden, the boost to your metabolism doesn’t compensate for the extra calories. Furthermore, long-term over reliance on energy drinks aren’t healthy anyway, so don’t even go there.

Nine: Fat People Have Slow Metabolism While Thin People Have Fast Metabolisms

Not quite so simple. There are many people with thyroid gland issues that result in them gaining or losing weight. Metabolism is just one of the variables that affect a person’s body burning food into energy. If you think about it, thin people can have lower metabolism because their bodies don’t have fat to burn when they are resting, right? But one thing for sure – muscular people tend to have higher metabolisms.