Metabolism & Weight Loss – A Fine Balance
The metabolic process is the way the body converts food into energy. Understanding this gives us insight into why our metabolism is so closely linked with weight gain and loss.
When the metabolism is functioning properly, the body performs a combination of biochemical processes. These processes include breathing, eating and digesting food, then delivering nutrients to every cell via the blood, and finally turning those nutrients into energy that can be used by your muscles, nerves, and cells. The final step in the metabolic process is eliminating the waste from the body.
Metabolism and Weight Loss
While the chemical processes and interactions that make up the metabolic system are interesting, most people are most concerned with how fast the body burns calories. This is the nutrients to energy part of the process. However, the rest of the metabolic system is just as important to maintaining overall health AND a healthy weight.
Because the metabolic system is providing energy for all kinds of things like tissue repair, digestion, breathing, and thinking, it’s important to keep the whole system in balance.
With the exception of high performing athletes, around 70% of the calories we burn are used for basic life functions. For most people, the other 30% is burned off during normal life activities. As nutrients are consumed, the body breaks them down and moves them around to the right places where they can either provide energy or be synthesized into new cells.
To engage the metabolism into burning more calories and eventually burning off fat, it’s important to make sure the whole system is working properly first. If you believe that your metabolism isn’t working correctly for any reason, come to see one of our licensed Naturopathic Doctors.
We have a wide variety of therapies and programs that are designed to assist the metabolic system, correct dysfunction, and jump-start the weight loss process in the healthiest way possible!