Slow Metabolism: Is it a cause for obesity
Just a few weeks ago I had an interesting conversation with a young lady at work. She wanted to ask me a question about weight gain. I told her I would be more than happy to answer any question she had. Here is what she had to say. “My cousin is overweight and she blames it on her metabolism. I’d like to know if there is such a thing as a slow metabolism and if so, does it cause obesity.” Hmmm, this was an interesting topic. A lot of people may want to know about this. I told her I would have to get back to her on that one.
Normally, when I talk to people about their weight they ask me questions about h0w to speed up their metabolism so that they could burn off excess body fat. In this case, here is a woman who feels that her obesity is caused by her body inability to convert food into energy quickly. Is this possible? The answer is YES. It is possible but not probable. There are people in the world who do have a slow metabolism, however it is rare… very rare. For the average person being overweight is usually caused by poor choices in diet and exercise.
Metabolism has to do with the process in which your body converts what you eat and what you drink into energy. Even when your body is asleep or at rest you still need energy for bodily functions such as breathing, circulating blood, digestion, cell repair and healing, etc. The key to losing weight is to reduce your intake of calories and burn off the excess calories in your body.
How you process calories can vary from person to person. For example, if you are a woman, you will probably have less muscle mass and more body fat than a man of the same age. In this case you will burn fewer calories than he will. Age plays an important roll in metabolism as well as gender. As you get older, you muscle mass tends to decrease, slowing down the rate at which your body burns calories. Other factors which contribute to a slower metabolism would be consuming too many calories on a daily basis, not getting enough exercise, not eating enough of the right kinds of foods, even skipping breakfast and not getting enough sleep.
In conclusion, if you are concerned about your weight, I recommend that you talk to your doctor to help you plan to make healthy choices concerning your eating habits. If you still think your metabolism is too slow have your physician check for rare problems such as hypothyroidism or Cushing’s syndrome.