What Is Metabolism

Roughly defined, the metabolism is the rate at which the human body creates energy.

According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, the series of chemical changes which take place in an organism, by means of which food is manufactured and utilized and waste materials are eliminated is called metabolism.

During a metabolic process, ingested fats are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol and then into simpler compounds that can be used by the cells of the body. This is the key to understand how the human body converts what it gets.

Most people don't have a normal metabolism. It can be faster than normal or it can be slower. Atkins diet has effects on metabolism, too. In order to compare different metabolism properties, scientists created BMR (the rate at which a human body use energy when at rest) and they found that:

1. the more a person weighs, the highest the BMR is
2. childhood BMR is higher than in adults
3. the higher the muscular ratio is, the higher the BMR
4. the higher BMR is, the easier it is to lose weight.

People whose weight tends to higher for no real reason have in fact a metabolic problem. They either have an improper eating regimen, a sedentary lifestyle or both.

The Correlation Between Metabolism and Overweight

The human body uses food as soon as it gets it. As a rule, when the metabolism is somehow altered, the body begins to store what can't be fueled, converted or properly used. A balanced way of life and a balanced daily eating routine are crucial for keeping metabolism at its normal running. Unfortunately, this is a goal hard to achieve for many people. Acumulative risks are coming from:

1. Non-observance of the three large meals daily rule (or 4-5 small meals). The human body is smart enough and it learns that it gets food once a day so it begins to store (to have fuel for the next 12 hours of “starvation”). This is the first factor to contribute to gaining weight.
2. Eating too much and too often junk-food, sugar, white flour, sugary juices and what they call refined and processed unhealthy foods. This is the second factor which adds pounds to a figure.

No Proteins and Fats Is Bad. Why?

Standard low-fat diets (high-carbohydrate, too) have been largely recommended for years. Weight-loss is satisfactory and many health professionals support them. Diets are usually accompanied by an active lifestyle, including aerobic exercise and weight training programs. Well, the truth is that convenional diets revealed some risks for many active people. The most important finding is that low-fat dieting (restricted calories) combined with an active life style leds to a risky muscle-loss.

Muscles are metabolically active tissues that constantly need calories (from proteins) to maintain their proper functioning. Muscles are bigger calories consumers than the adipose tissue. As conventional diets allow very few calories, muscles are deprived of proper calories intake. The lack of proteins means releasing nitrogen from the muscle tissue. The human body doesn't need it and it “cleans” it by taking water from muscle tissue. So, mass muscle is drastically reduced. Moreover, the body begins to conserve fat, as a “starvation response” to the shortage of calories.

Atkins Metabolic Advantage

The Atkins roadmap to success precisely refers to this metabolic process, claiming that the diet delivers what they called “metabolic advantage”. The Atkins diet effects are:

• losing weight by eating as many calories (proteins and fats) as possible
• maintaining or gaining lean muscle (that is why Dr. Atkins has strongly recommended regular exercise).

Why It Works

It is already known that carbohydrates are a very efficient form of energy. When it has this form of fuel at hand, the body uses it as often as needed, leaving aside other sources, such as proteins and fats, considered inefficient forms of energy. According to Dr. Atkins, “metabolic advantage” occurs when the body has to make efforts to get energy from somewhere else when its favourite fuel is missing. Therefore fat decreases, alongside with the pounds.

You achieved your weight goal. How about maintaining it? Studies revealed that most dieters didn't gain more than 30 percent from what they had lost during the Atkins diet. Regaining weight rate is a reasonable one. Going back to old eating habits is crucial in influencing your weight.