Define Metabolism

How To Define Metabolism?

A simple way to define metabolism is that it is a wide variety of chemical reactions that take place within the human body at the cellular level. The chemical reaction converts calories into energy to sustain the proper functioning of a human body.

Another way to define metabolism is that it consists of 3 components namely a) basal metabolism ie the minimum calories to support basic energy b) Physical activities ie the calories needed to go into physical activities and c) Thermic effect of food ie the calories needed in processing the food you take. All 3 components affect the metabolic rate with the basal metabolism providing the highest and the thermic effect having the lowest rate.

Basal Metabolism

Basal metabolism is the minimum calories needed to generate energy to support the basic functioning of the body without any physical activities.It is the biggest component of the overall metabolism of a person. The physique of a person will influence this basal metabolism rate. A muscular person will have a higher metabolism as compared to a less muscular one. Basal Metabolism rate tends to slow down as a person grows older.

Metabolism From Physical Activity

Additional energy is needed when a person is involved in some physical activities. The body will thus burn the necessary calories to sustain the physical activities. This is metabolism from physical activities.It is the second largest component of the overall metabolism which average about 20%. This is the component that can easily be influenced to increase the metabolism rate through increased physical activities in order to lose weight.

Metabolism From Thermic Effect On Food

The thermic effect on food is the smallest component of metabolism. It is the calories needed to produce energy to process the food you eat. Wih its influence of about 10%, its effect on the metabolism in our body is the least although some people believed that eating more frequent daily with the same amount of food will increase the thermic metabolic rate.

The above simple way to define metabolism hopefully will lead to a better and indepth understanding of it. This understanding is necessary to facilitate a person to take the appropriate actions to either sustain, gain or lose weight.

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