Biology - Metabolism

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For the human body to constantly function properly, it but necessary the body needs the energy to perform to its full capacity. The body needs energy, which is in the form of calories to function, and to a great extent, these body functions(metabolisms) are affected by age, sex, muscle mass, and physical exercises.

What Metabolism

Metabolism is the process by which the human body converts the food and water taken into the body to produce energy, which is a result of combining calories and oxygen. Metabolism is the body never stops, even in a rest state the process continues. The released energy fuels the body's functions at a non-stop rate, some of these functions are

• Breathing
• Blood circulation
• Food digestion
• Cell Growth and repairs
• Regulation of body temperature
• Manage body hormone levels

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BMR is the minimum amount of calories needed by the body to function while it is at rest. BMR is not the same for everyone, it varies from person to person. At this state, your body will use about 60% to 70% of the energy converted from food and water. At BMR, it is difficult for the body to lose weight or aggressively make use of the available calories. During the rest state, the body uses about 1/10 of the energy released to process food to the fuel needed, and the rest is used to fuel physical activities.

I know from this basic explanation, that everyone will want to blame metabolic actions for the reason we struggle to either put on or lose weight. Yeah, our metabolism naturally regulates its functionality to meet up with the needs of our bodies. So for this reason, it is rarely caused by body weight loss or gain to some extent. Normally weight loss is a result of our body burning more calories than what is taken into the body.

When we talk of fast BMR, it means the body burns a lot of calories even in a rest state. While slow BMR is when the body needs a small number of calories to keep functioning. Fast BMR does not mean it will lead to the thinness of the body or weight loss. Instead, statistics have shown that people with overweight often have fast metabolism to keep their body functions going.

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Factors Affect Metabolism

Muscle mass: When the body takes more energy(calories) than fat for the development, and maintenance of the muscle, which often occurs in people with a fast metabolism.

Age: As your body gets older, you lose muscle, and your metabolism rate also slows down.

Sex: Studies have shown that the Male tend has fast metabolism that the female, that reason you find more muscle mass, large bones, and less body fat in Male than in females.

Genes: What we inherit from our parents plays a vital role in our muscle size and ability to develop muscle mass.

Physical activities: Playing tennis, Running after kids, and other forms of exercise push our bodies to burn more calories than when at rest.

Smoking: Nicotine, which is found in cigarettes speeds up metabolism actions which help to burn more calories. Now you can see why those who quit smoking turn to putting on weight. Not an encouragement for smoking, consequences are cancer, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease, which surpasses the benefits you might get.

To end up, the body needs metabolism to keep functioning. So I will encourage us to try as much as possible to boost your metabolic process. Don't skip meals, because it will lead to few calories, and the body will be forced to break down muscle for energy. Make it a habit to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and load your body with carbohydrates and fats. Quit smoking, yeah. Quit smoking, it will slow down your metabolism rate and lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, etc. Do strength exercises to build muscles and keep fit.

Thanks for reading.