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Metabolism And Weight

By Zinn Jeremiah

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 21Dec2007
Word count: 431
Viewed: 187 time(s)

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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.

Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. To find weight loss resources, visit weight loss help or weight loss program.

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