Denton County Living Well Magazine September/October 2017 | Page 36

The Importance
of Metabolism
By Julie Alvira, MD, MBA
T
he truth is, we never think about the importance of
the term metabolism. We have heard it on various
occasions. Everybody mentions that one needs to
keep their metabolism going for weight loss and
eat every three to four hours,
right? But, do we actually know what
it means?
Why metabolism slows as we age?
In a previous article I talked about anti-aging medicine,
which explains some aspects of what happens as we age.
Taking that into consideration, one aspect to mention is the
What is Metabolism?
Metabolism is all the chemical reac-
tions happening in the body all the
time that make us exist. These reactions
can be classified in two major groups:
Catabolism: involves the breaking of
molecules for energy.
Anabolism: the synthesis of all the com-
pounds that cells need.
During these types of reactions, the
cells break down nutrients to produce
energy that our bodies use in different
ways. You might think that the body
uses energy only when we are in move-
ment. But, no. Even when we are at
rest, the body uses this energy for dif-
ferent processes such as: breathing,
circulating blood, adjusting hormone
levels, and much more. Such processes
use a number of calories (energy units)
that are known as the basal metabolic
rate (BMR) or what we commonly call
metabolism.
Metabolism and Calories
There are several factors that affect
metabolism such as:
 Body Composition and Muscle Mass:
People who have more muscle tissue in
their bodies will burn more calories (even at rest) than those
with higher fat content. It happens because the muscle re-
quires more energy to function. Resistance exercises using
weights are excellent for building muscle mass.
• Gender: Men have more muscle mass than women compared to
same age and weight.
• Age: The older we get, the slower our metabolism becomes.
• Genetics: It has been shown that genes contribute to the rapidity
of metabolism.
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DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
slowing of BMR. Everything is joined together because as
lean muscle mass begins to decrease in relation to total
body mass, the BMR does as well. Having said that, it is
very important to maintain a good exercise regimen of
strength training in combination with cardiovascular exer-
cise for the heart. Strength training helps us maintain or de-
velop lean muscle mass. It’s good advice to also maintain a
healthy eating program to help with the development and
maintenance of such lean muscle and fight the accumula-
tion of belly fat.