Burn Calories the Safe, Smart Way

Atlanta––Some blame their weight problems on a “slow metabolism,” insisting that this is an immutable inherited characteristic. Others pin their hopes on the latest pills, powders or berries that promise to accelerate their metabolic rate from zero to 60 in five seconds. Both viewpoints reflect a misunderstanding of what metabolism is or how it works, nationally renowned nutrition and fitness expert Elizabeth Applegate told a packed auditorium during the American College of Sports Medicine “Fitness Summit” in early April.

The good news is that dieters who understand the basics of metabolism can calculate what their calorie intake should be and take action to shed unwanted pounds, said Applegate, who is director of sports nutrition at the University of California at Davis.

Metabolism refers to a set of processes that turn the foods we eat into energy. A key concept for weight-conscious people is the resting metabolic rate (RMR), the amount of energy that major organ systems, such as the liver, heart, brain and digestive system, need to maintain normal function when we’re sitting still.

“For most people the resting metabolic rate amounts to 60 to 70 percent of that person’s energy needs,” Applegate said.

The rest of our energy consumption is divided between voluntary physical activities, such as exercise, spontaneous physical activity, such as fidgeting, and energy expended by digesting food. But when we consume more food than we can concert to energy, those leftover calories turn into fat deposits.

Different individuals need different amounts of energy to maintain health and optimum weight, and nutritionists, doctors, or physical trainers use various algorithms for calculating energy needs based on height, weight, age and sex.

But there’s a simple do-it-yourself method for calculating RMR, Applegate said, based on the finding that men generally require 11 calories per pound of body weight, while women require 10 calories per pound.

According to this simple formula, a 158-pound man needs 1,738 calories per day, while a woman who weighs the same requires 1,580 calories per day. Although this number is an approximation, Applegate said it is an excellent starting point for a diet: eat fewer calories than you calculate using this formula, and chances are you will begin to shed pounds.

But don’t go overboard, Applegate cautioned.

“If you look at a lot of the mechanisms we have for energy balance, we are designed to defend against weight loss,” she said.

The body is predisposed to conserve energy, and if calorie consumption drops below 1000 calories per day, the body’s RMR may slow by 10 to 15 percent. The body responds as though it were in the first phases of starvation, Applegate said.

Because hormones produced by the thyroid gland are important for regulating RMR, abnormalities in thyroid function can also make it harder to lose – or gain – weight. People with hypothyroidism, an under active gland, may have trouble losing weight; those affected by hyperthyroidism may find it impossible to gain pounds. Both conditions can easily be treated.

Desperate dieters sometimes take up cigarettes because they’ve heard that smoking boosts metabolism. While it’s true that nicotine may stimulate RMR by three to seven percent, the adverse health effects of smoking overshadow any benefits of using nicotine for weight loss, according to Applegate.

Caffeine, green tea, and capsaicin, the chemical that puts the burn in chili peppers, speed metabolic rate. But they don’t accelerate it enough to trigger significant weight loss, and excess caffeine consumption contributes to insomnia, anxiety, and fast or irregular heartbeat.

In short, there is no safe and simple way to turbocharge your metabolism. Although the marketplace is flooded with pills and elixirs that supposedly burn calories and fat with little or no effort on the part of the dieter, these claims are often exaggerated.

“There is nothing out there that is going to help you burn 1,000 more calories per day just by sitting in a chair,” Applegate said.

Better to get out of the chair and fix yourself healthy meals involving steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grain and lean protein sources such as fish, eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, lean beef, and soy. A diet like this, combined with an exercise regimen that involves both strength training and aerobics is a good way to speed up your metabolism, lose weight and improve your overall health.