Metabolism: What Is It?

The dictionary defines metabolism as the sum of all biochemical processes involved in a life or the sustaining of life. In application concerning our health, metabolism is related to the intake and use of food. In reference to the case in point, it is our ability to utilize our food to the fullest extent.

Some people have really high rates of metabolism. In other words, when they consume food, their bodies burn it up almost as fast as they consume it. Then there are those of us who use our food intake so slowly as not to even notice that we’re burning calories. These people who burn quickly are often slim and trim, the people who burn more slowly are the people with a tendency toward obesity.

The body’s metabolism is a unique process for each individual person. No two people metabolize food at the same rate therefore, no two people have the metabolism. We all use our calories at different rates, with different results. Our metabolism, like our fingerprints, is unique to each of us. But the need to understand and accommodate this metabolism is an issue that we all face.

All of this metabolic process is related to our calorie intake, our vitamin and nutrition needs, our thyroid and endocrine production, and how well all of these processes come together. For years, people have sought ways to raise the metabolic rate. If you can raise someone’s metabolic rate, you are then better able to control the burn of calories, especially for overweight or obese people. This would make the goal of better or improved health a much easier reality for those people. Efforts to date have produced very few results. There are foods that we can consume that naturally raise our metabolic rate, but not to a great extent. What we need is a way to directly alter the rate. We need to be able to raise our metabolism to a point where we can actually see a benefit.

What determines our metabolic rate, as far as our genetics? Generally, we tend to inherit the same tendencies for metabolic rates, body frames, and other related body functions from our parents. Thus, the origin of “well, she comes from big people; naturally, she’s going to be big.”

Right now, the greatest results in raising our metabolism come from exercise and building our muscle mass while reducing our body fat. Adding more muscle to the body, in turn, causes us to burn more calories, and this helps to elevate our metabolic rate.

Our metabolism functions also depend on how well we have taken care of our nutritional needs. The process of burning calories and creating energy is a delicate one and one which must be carefully tended to, or it can become imbalanced. It is often through these natural imbalances that we tend to “inherit’ our metabolic rate.

I believe through careful analysis and attention to each person’s unique needs, we could bring about a more natural balance of metabolic burn vs. calorie intake. To a level where optimal health and weight control are in equilibrium.