Low basal metabolic rate

Our body's daily life activities require a lot of energy, and only by relying on the body's metabolism can we maintain normal life activities. The basal metabolic rate reflects the normal state of life. The higher the basal metabolic rate, the stronger the vitality. There are many reasons for a low metabolic rate. Excessive weight loss can slow down the body's metabolism and lead to a low basal metabolic rate. Lack of sleep can also lead to a decrease in metabolic capacity, so you must develop good living habits in your daily life.

Why is the basal metabolic rate low? Five reasons you must know

We all know that a low basal metabolic rate will directly affect body weight. What exactly causes a low basal metabolic rate? In fact, many bad living habits are invisibly affecting the basal metabolic rate. For example, the most common dieting to lose weight directly affects your metabolic rate. What is basal metabolic rate and how to measure it? Basal metabolic rate refers to the amount of calories our body consumes in a day when we are stationary.

Since our brain also consumes calories when we are awake, to be more precise, the calories consumed after a day of sleep would be closer to the basal metabolic rate. So how do you measure your basal metabolic rate? In addition to helping measure weight and body fat percentage, some better scales can also measure the value of your basal metabolic rate. The method is to first measure the amount of body fat and muscle, and then estimate how much energy can be consumed.

However, each person's cell activity is different, so this number should be used for reference only and should not be fully trusted. The truly accurate basal metabolic rate can only be determined by using special instruments to collect the amount of exhaled carbon dioxide, but this method is mostly used only in academic research.

There is no need to obsess over the basal metabolic rate number because it is meaningless. What we need to understand most is how to avoid a drop in metabolic rate and what we can do to increase it. Let’s take a look at the five main culprits that cause a decrease in basal metabolic rate.

Causes of low basal metabolic rate

1. Excessive dieting In medical research, the body has a self-protection instinct. When our calorie intake decreases, the body's instinct is to shut down less necessary functions so that the only calories left can sustain life. For example, delayed or absent menstrual periods, or excessive hair loss are all possible conditions that may be caused by excessive dieting. Another thing that can happen when you diet too much is a decrease in your basal metabolic rate. If there are not so many calories to burn, then burn less to avoid insufficient calories. This is our body's OS. Most diets without the help of a nutritionist can only reduce about 3 to 5% of body weight, but it may not be fat, but may reduce muscle. The weight you regain in the future will far exceed the amount you lose by dieting.

2. Sleep Many people think that seven hours of sleep is enough, and it doesn’t matter when you sleep. This is a very wrong concept when it comes to weight control. During sleep, the secretion of growth hormone increases, even in adults, and growth hormone is one of the keys to maintaining the basal metabolic rate. The main secretion time of growth hormone is from 11 pm to 1 am. If you fall asleep after this period, the secretion of growth hormone will decrease, which will indirectly affect the basal metabolic rate. You should avoid staying up late when losing weight, because staying up late can also lead to late-night snacks and edema the next day. Unless it is necessary for work, you should maintain adequate sleep length and the correct bedtime to avoid a decrease in metabolic rate.

3. The influence of hormones There are many endocrine and basal metabolic related diseases in the body. Hypothyroidism is often seen in outpatient clinics. This disease often occurs after thyroid surgery, autoimmune attack, stress or viral infection. Diseases usually affect body weight very quickly. In the outpatient clinic, I have come across patients who gained 25 kilograms in three months but had nowhere to turn for help. Hypothyroidism is just one of many endocrine disorders that can affect metabolic rate. If you experience unexplained rapid weight gain, please do not hesitate to see a doctor immediately!

4. Less than one kilogram of muscle can consume about 80 calories, but one kilogram of fat can only consume 4 calories; one kilogram of muscle is about half the volume of one kilogram of fat. Muscles with half the volume can consume 20 times more calories, which is a good deal no matter how you think about it. Many office workers are unwilling to exercise even on their days off. It is even more common to hear women hold the wrong idea that they are afraid to exercise because they are worried that they will become too strong if they have too many muscles. In fact, just by reading the reports describing the hard process of male celebrities building muscles, you can know that it is not easy for boys to really build obvious muscles, let alone girls. Don't think that the beautiful legs and 11-shaped abdominal muscles of those Korean girl groups can be achieved by just starving themselves. A certain amount of muscle training will produce results.

5. The basal metabolic rate of an older person reaches its peak at the age of 25, and then decreases by 2 to 5% every decade. The influence of age is the last factor to be discussed because no one can change it. In the weight loss clinic, people who are trying to lose weight are often reminded that they should adjust their mindset first. Holding on to the mindset of "I never gained weight even if I ate this way before" will not help with their current weight loss plan! It's always sad to compare people to when they were younger, isn't it? In addition to methods to increase the basal metabolic rate by yourself, there are also some medical prescriptions that passively increase the metabolic rate. However, this type of prescription should not be purchased and used by yourself at a general pharmacy. It must be evaluated and guided by a professional doctor to be a safe and correct method. Dr. Lin Po-hung from the Taiwan Obesity Medicine Association also suggested that although basal metabolic rate is important for weight loss, most people gain weight by eating more and exercising less. Therefore, even if prescriptions to increase metabolic rate can help control weight, if the fundamental problem is not corrected, there is still a possibility of gaining weight again in the future. The concept of metabolic rate is totally wrong. Metabolism and excretion are not clearly distinguished.

(1) Can taking a hot spring bath increase your basal metabolic rate? Sweating caused by external heat is a kind of surface heat. By excreting sweat, you can balance your body temperature to avoid heat stroke or heat exhaustion. This is not metabolism, but excretion (discharge of water through the skin). This is what taking a hot spring bath means. Simply put, taking a hot spring bath may help the body excrete toxins and impurities, but it has no effect on increasing the "basal metabolic rate".

(2) Can drinking more water increase your basal metabolic rate? Water plays an important role when losing weight (especially when using a doctor's prescription to lose weight). However, the function of water is to provide a sense of fullness and assist in the metabolism of drugs. It is not that water itself will increase the basal metabolic rate. Therefore, drinking more water without medication can only provide a sense of fullness, and the metabolic rate will not increase. The increase in urine output is like sweating, which is just a form of excretion.

What other foods can help us boost metabolism?

Oats: Contains extremely rich linoleic acid and saponins, which can lower serum cholesterol and triglycerides.

Corn: Rich in calcium, selenium, lecithin, vitamin E, etc., it has the effect of lowering serum cholesterol.

Kelp: Rich in taurine, it can lower cholesterol in the blood and bile; the dietary fiber alginate can inhibit the absorption of cholesterol.

Garlic: Contains a mixture of sulfides that can reduce blood cholesterol, prevent blood clots, and help increase high-density lipoprotein levels.