Metabolism is a hot word that gets thrown around in the fitness arena, and usually in the wrong way. This article goes over some of the most common myths around metabolism as well as ways to boost the metabolism.
Understanding Metabolism: What It Really Is
Metabolism is complicated. However, to simplify, metabolism is all the processes that occur in order to provide energy for the body and allow for normal functioning and life. This includes turning nutrients and food into energy. A lot of things affect metabolism all at once, which means it’s hard to isolate certain variables that might impact metabolism.
Metabolism Myths Debunked
Myth 1: Metabolism Slows Dramatically With Age
This is false. Typically, movement decreases with age, causing you to lose muscle mass, which results in a slower metabolism. However, there is a tiny morsel of truth to this myth. As you age, your cells start to slow down. Studies show that metabolism naturally begins to slow down by .7% at age 60. So, that means, by 80, your metabolism will gradually slow down 14%. However, if you keep your body moving, your cells have to continue to work efficiently.
Myth 2: Skipping Meals Slows Your Metabolism
This is false. What matters at the end of the day is your overall caloric intake. So yes, if you consistently eat less food over long periods of time, you’ll lose weight and your metabolism will decrease with it. But, if you just skip a meal, you’re not going to see an impact on your metabolism. The total caloric intake is what matters, not how often you eat.
The same applies to the other end of the spectrum. Eating 6 meals per day will not speed up your metabolism. In fact, depending on your habits and cravings, eating that frequently can be good or bad. If frequent eating keeps you feeling satiated and energized if you’re really active, it can be a good thing. Eating frequently can also encourage grazing and snacking habits, which can cause a caloric surplus, which might not be your goal.
Calories in vs calories out is what matters. Skipping a meal here and there or even every day while your calories remain the same won’t slow your metabolism. However, if you are eating less calories, you will slow your metabolism because you are losing muscle mass (unless you are thoughtfully cutting 100-300 calories a day for a short time only while strength training).
Myth 3: Eating Certain Foods Can Boost Metabolism
The myth is, foods like coffee, bell peppers, green tea, eggs, cocoa, lentils, cayenne pepper, celery, broccoli, and apples can help boost metabolism. NO! This is not true. Most of these foods are healthy, and if you eat them instead of processed foods, you will most likely see a body composition change because eating whole foods is healthier, especially if you are hitting your protein. However, eating more random foods definitely won’t magically boost metabolism.
What is true is that some foods can take more energy to digest than others, and some may slightly increase your metabolic rate, the difference is usually insignificant.
Eating any food will increase metabolism during the digestion process. Meaning, your body uses energy to break down food anytime you eat.
There is a thermic effect with particular food, which basically means the metabolic process to digest it takes longer and more energy. Protein creates a thermic effect and therefore has a greater effect on metabolism, as digesting protein takes more energy and time. Eating protein doesn’t boost metabolism indefinitely, only when it is being digested. So, the higher the protein consumption, the more of a metabolic advantage you’ll have for each meal eaten.
Myth 4: Eating at Night Slows Metabolism
This myth is not true, but there are negative effects to eating at night before bed. Hormonal processes that happen at night when we sleep (like growth hormone and others) are better optimized by timing digestion at least a couple of hours before sleep. Sleep can be negatively impacted by eating right before bed, as the body will prioritize digesting over sleep quality. A lot of people that tend to have cravings, binge, or graze at night may have a propensity to confuse feeling tired with feeling hungry. So, although eating before bed does not slow metabolism, it is usually concurrent with poor sleep, overeating, and feeling tired and overeating the next day.
What Influences Metabolic Health?
Here is a list of some key things that influence metabolic health
- Muscle mass
- Sleep quantity and quality
- Nutrition – Especially getting enough protein
- Hormones – It’s important for hormones to be balanced and in a healthy range
- General movement in daily life
How to Improve Your Metabolic Health – muscle is the holy grail for metabolism
Muscle mass requires more energy, increasing metabolism, and creating a positive feedback loop. Building muscle requires strength training and exercise, nutrition, and a lifestyle with a lot of movement.
Strength Training & Exercise
Strength training is the single greatest movement exercise that builds muscle. Of course, if you overdo any type of exercise, your metabolism and muscle gains will plateau. For example, chronic cardio makes the body think something extreme is going on (this is an evolutionary adaptation) and it will slow your metabolism down in order to adapt.
Nutrition
In order to build muscle, you need to eat enough protein. Period.
Lifestyle
Having a lifestyle that incorporates movement is great for metabolic health and muscle growth. Simply going on walks, gardening, walking or riding your bike when you can, and household chores lends itself to more energy used and therefore increased metabolism.
Building Stronger Metabolic Health
Metabolic flexibility is paramount to building metabolic health, which means that your body can oscillate between burning carbs efficiently and fat efficiently. This is part of the reason low carb or extremely low fat diets should be avoided – all macros are important and a healthy balance of both builds a healthy metabolism. Each body is different, so macro level are important for creating your perfect diet. When the body is relying on one energy source through a restrictive diet, it affects metabolic flexibility.
In the mornings when the body is fasted, the body tends to burn more fats as fuel. Carbs are used more as fuel after we eat and when we exercise because we have that energy source to rely on. Many people think that if glycogen sources are depleted and they do fasted cardio, they can then burn more fat since fat is the fuel source here. This isn’t actually true – burning fat as a fuel source does not equal burning body fat. In fact, the fat burning zone is a myth. When you work out fasted and your body is burning fat for fuel, you have less energy to burn and typically work out at lower intensities, so the overall calorie burn is lower. When you workout with carbs in your system, the intensity is higher and overall calorie burn is too.
Want to learn more? Listen to episode 210 of the Stronger Than Your Boyfriend Podcast: Metabolism Myths
