Understanding Metabolism

Metabolism.

This is possibly the most frequently used word in the weight loss - and weight gain - vocabulary.

Every day people are talking about - or writing about - their struggles or their triumphs over the holiday bulge in terms of whether their metabolism is working, or not.

Indeed some medical people refer to metabolism in trying to explain why starvation and water-loss diets are not scientifically or medically responsible; because these diets do not influence or take into account metabolism - there is that word again!.

As a result of the widespread usage that this term seems to enjoy in our world, you would possibly assume that people understand just what ‘metabolism’ refers to, and that they have some basic information when it comes to how to speed up their metabolism.

However, you will find that your assumption is wrong.

Unfortunately many people really do not understand the concept of metabolism and metabolic change but this is hardly their fault.

There is so much information floating around out there, much of it over the Net or through a “friend of a friend who has a personal trainer”, that it is easy to see that there can be some confusion and some conflicting messages.

As a result of this widespread use of the term ‘metabolism’ many people mistake their own weight loss or weight gain episodes as a matter of metabolic change. Sometimes this is true, and sometimes it is not.

There are certain scientific ways to increase the rate of metabolic change, and thus enable the body to burn more calories.

Eating certain foods more frequently is one way to do this. Yet another way to visibly lose weight – at least on a temporary level – is to sit in a steam room for a few hours.

The first of these, that is eating the right foods, is a real, proven weight loss method through increased metabolic change, the second method - sitting in the steam room - is temporary because the lost weight is merely water, and will return quickly once you begin your water intake again.

The point to remember here is that some people mistake their own weight loss attempts as being related to metabolic change; and, as you can see with the steam room example that is not always the case.

Another major reason that people do not have clear, consistent information about metabolism is because, unfortunately, some food and supplement producing companies really do not want you to understand the true facts.

They are trying to get you to believe that a consistently buying “low fat” food is going to somehow speed up your metabolism.

It is true that some low fat foods can play a significant part in an overall eating program that is designed to speed up metabolism, but just eating foods where the packaging that highlights “low fat” will not do anything.

It is even possible that many people actually gain weight when they eat too many “low fat” products. Many of these products are heavily loaded with calories from carbohydrates or proteins which must be burned off or they turn into body fat.

Every year, millions of people attempt to retake control over their health and the shape of their body and each year millions of people feel that they have “failed” because no matter how hard they have tried, they find themselves unable to speed up their metabolism.

It is argued that the medical and nutritional sector as a whole has simply not provided people with the information that they need to know in order to speed up their metabolism. Considering the size of the nutritional field and the fact that so much of it is influenced by commercial enterprises trying to make profits you can see why there is a lack of clear, consistent, and helpful information flowing out to people like us.

1. Prev:Menopause Diet Help for Menopause Belly Fat Loss and Menopausal Symptoms Relief
2. Next:How to Read Food Labels