Metabolism And Weight

Metabolism And Weight
Rates of overweight have reached epidemic proportions, and
this is especially true in the United States. Depending on
the statistics, an astonishing sixty-six percent of adults
in the United States are overweight. Put another way, two
of every three adults in the US is overweight. It's a
remarkable reality. With so many overweight people in the
United States, it's a certainty that a lot of emphasis
would be placed on prospective weight loss methods.

One word that gets thrown about a lot when talking about
weight loss is metabolism. Metabolism has become a generic
term to a degree, but the guess here is that most people
aren't genuinely aware of what metabolism refers to: only
that it plays a role in body weight. Metabolism is actually
a set of chemical reactions that occur within living cells.
Metabolism in fact allows cells to grow and reproduce.
Referring to the term metabolism when talking about body
weight regulation is overly broad. What actually affects
body weight is calories, and more specifically, how many
calories are consumed versus how many calories are burned
in energy consumption.

A calorie measures how much energy a food source provides
to the body. The more calories a food source has, the more
energy that food source provides to the body. More is not
necessarily better however in the case of calories. If more
calories are taken in than are needed to fuel the body, the
calories are stored by the body, often as fat. The
significant issue for body weight then is how much calorie
fuel a particular body uses. The answer obviously varies.
An infant will need less calorie fuel than an adult will.
But averaging things out, calorie fuel usage is determined
by how much energy a person expends. Energy typically takes
the form of physical exertion. The more physically active a
person is, the more calorie energy they tend to burn.

Where metabolism comes into the equation in body weight is
through what's known as basal metabolic rate. What basal
metabolic rate basically boils down to is how much calorie
energy a person burns while they're at rest. This is
influenced again by how physically active a person is on
average. The more active a person is generally, the higher
their basal metabolic rate. The term metabolism then is not
entirely accurate when discussing body weight issues. The
more proper reference would be basal metabolic rate. Still,
the general notion that more exercise equals more energy
burned is correct, and more energy burned typically equals
a healthier body weight.

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Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. To find weight loss
resources visit http://www.hubonline.biz/lose-now.htm or
http://www.hubonline.biz/get-fit.htm .