Slow metabolism

Question
Sarah
My husband is 55, and healthy and normal except for his extremely slow metabolism.
Since we spend a lot of time together, we are both semi-retired, I can atest to the fact that he cant eat much more than 1500 calories a day or his weight creeps up. He is already overweight at 250 pounds at 5 feet 8 inches.
He does cardio daily, and eats only low glycemic carbs and very little fatty foods. He sees his physician twice a year, and there is no indication of thyroid or other problems. The doctor has chided him about his weight so I hva been accompanying him lately.  The doctor just shrugged and said he just has a slow metabolism.
As a child he was u nderweight and sickly, and had scarlett, fever, measles, mumps-you name it. Maybe these compromised his metabolism, or hormonal issues struck? because he says he was underweight  until adolescence, then became heavy at puberty.
Thanks for any insight. I have researched this issue and most people that claim to have slow naturally metabolisms probably dont

Answer
Barb, I do not have a concrete answer on how to help your husband.  I wish I did because I would be a very rich woman!  I will be the first to admit sometimes people do all of the "right" things and still do not get the results they want.  In lieu of giving you an answer, I will provide you with some suggestions, as it is the best I can do.

First, it is possible for someone to have a slow metabolism.  Starting in your 30's everyone's metabolism slows little by little.  However, metabolism is not set in stone and there are ways to increase it.  You mentioned that he does cardio, I would recommend some weight training as well.  Muscle requires more calories per day for maintenance, increasing basal metabolism (the amount of calories your body needs each day just to stay alive).  It is also beneficial to "mix up" cardio.  If he is doing the same activity day after day his body has adjusted so he is able to do the exercise using the least amount of calories possible.  If he rides an exercise bike or uses a tread mill, choose the random hills setting and vary how long he does it for each day to keep his body guessing. This is why circuit training and other exercises requiring "bursts" of energy are popular.

Secondly, I would suggest adding more healthy fats to his diet.  This sounds counter-productive, but many people who hit a weight loss "plateu" find if they add more fat they actually lose weight.  Healthy fats include avacado, olives and olive oil, fatty fish, and flax seed oil.  There is also a little known fat called CLA that is found in pasture raised beef, pork, eggs, and dairy.  Studies suggest CLA may help promote weight loss.  Pasture raised meats also contain more Omega-3 fatty acids ("healthy fat") than conventionally raised meat.  If you have a farmer's market near you, that would be the best place to look for these types of meat. *CLA can also be purchased as a supplement, similar to fish oil supplements, but I cannot recommend these as I have not read research on their safety or effectiveness *

I would also recommend testing for wheat and lactose intolerance.  While neither alone would cause someone to become overweight, they can disrupt proper digestion and interfere with weight loss efforts.  The easiest way to check for intolerance is to stop eating products containing wheat (you can look up "gluten free diet" for ideas...wheat is in a lot of things you wouldn't even suspect) for a couple of weeks and see how he feels.  Same for dairy products.  (I would do only one at a time so you can see how removing each from the diet makes him feel.)  

There is also a machine called a metabolic cart that actually measures someone's metabolism.  They are a bit hard to find but your doctor should be able to help you find a hospital or a diet center that has one.  This would let you know for sure what his metabolism is and answer the question if his metabolism is really as slow as he doctor thinks or if something else is going on.

I am not aware of any infectious childhood diseases that have been linked to weight gain in adults.  Hormones can play a role but typically thyroid hormones.  Low testosterone levels can sometimes play a part in weight gain and is something he may want to have checked.

I hope these are new suggestions and have provided you more options to look into.  If you have more questions, do not hesitate to contact me.  

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