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Metabolism is the process by which the body converts food and nutrients into energy. It is influenced by age, gender, muscle-to-fat ratio, physical activity, diet, and hormone function. A slow metabolism can make it harder to lose weight as the body burns fewer calories, leading to weight gain. While a slow metabolism may not be the sole cause of weight gain, it can contribute to it. Additionally, as we age, our muscle mass decreases, which further slows down our metabolism. Maintaining muscle mass is crucial for weight loss and overall health. This can be achieved through strength training, resistance exercises, and adequate protein intake, which help boost metabolism and increase muscle mass, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight.
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Hormonal imbalances
The human body is governed by chemical messengers known as hormones, which regulate metabolism, weight, and muscle mass. Anabolic and catabolic processes dictate how muscles grow and are maintained. These processes depend on specific hormones, such as testosterone, human growth hormone, and luteinizing hormone.
Testosterone is a crucial sex hormone responsible for stimulating puberty, fat-burning, muscle-building, and mood regulation. Men typically experience increased testosterone levels during puberty, but testosterone production declines with age, primarily due to shrinking testes. This results in a testosterone imbalance, disrupting the maintenance and growth of muscles. Lower testosterone levels can also be caused by stress, certain medical conditions, or genetics. As testosterone levels decrease, muscle mass declines, and muscle repair slows down.
Cortisol, often referred to as the "stress hormone," is released during stressful situations. Chronic stress can lead to elevated cortisol levels, which have a catabolic effect, breaking down muscle tissue over time and contributing to muscle loss.
Additionally, thyroid hormones, including thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), play a significant role in regulating metabolism and energy production. An imbalance in these hormones, such as hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland), can cause muscle weakness and muscle loss.
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Ageing
As we age, our bodies undergo physiological changes, including muscle loss. This condition, known as sarcopenia, affects 11-50% of individuals over 80 years old. The loss of muscle mass contributes to a slower metabolic rate, as muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than body fat. The decline in muscle mass can be exacerbated by inactivity and a poor diet, particularly a low protein intake.
To counteract the effects of ageing on metabolism, it is essential to focus on maintaining and building muscle mass. Strength training and resistance exercises are effective strategies to slow muscle loss and boost metabolism. Additionally, a high-quality diet with adequate protein, including plant-based sources, is crucial for muscle maintenance and metabolic health.
Hormonal changes, such as declining testosterone and estrogen levels, also contribute to decreasing muscle mass with age. These hormonal changes can further impact metabolism. However, it is important to note that the relationship between ageing and metabolism is complex, and individual factors, such as genetics and lifestyle, also play a role.
While the slowing of metabolism with age has been a commonly held belief, recent studies have challenged this notion. Some research suggests that metabolic rate remains stable throughout adult life, from ages 20 to 60, contradicting the idea of a significant decline in middle age. Nonetheless, the potential impact of ageing on metabolism underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity and a balanced diet, to support overall health and well-being.
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Lack of exercise
Regular exercise increases muscle mass and teaches the body to burn kilojoules at a faster rate, even when at rest. Exercise, especially strength training and resistance exercises, helps build muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, even at rest, which can boost your metabolic rate.
Physiologic atrophy or disuse atrophy is caused by not using your muscles enough. If you stop using your muscles, your body will conserve the energy it needs to take care of them, and instead, it will start to break down your muscles, causing them to decrease in size and strength. Disuse atrophy is more likely to affect those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, have a desk job, or are on bed rest.
Muscle loss due to lack of exercise can be reversed with a combination of exercise and a healthy diet. Progressive resistance-based strength training can help improve strength and reverse muscle loss. Weight-bearing and resistance exercises can boost muscle mass when paired with healthier eating patterns. Weight training with dumbbells and resistance bands can also help regain lost muscle.
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Dietary deficiencies
Consuming too few calories can also cause a major decrease in metabolism. When an individual dramatically lowers their calorie intake, their body senses that food is scarce and lowers the rate at which it burns calories. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). Studies have shown that consuming fewer than 1,000 calories per day can significantly impact metabolic rate.
Protein intake is also an important factor in maintaining muscle mass. Eating enough protein can help prevent muscle loss when following a calorie-restricted diet. Research suggests that an intake of at least 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight is necessary to prevent a slowdown in metabolism during and after weight loss.
Additionally, rapid weight loss of more than 1 kilogram per week can result in greater muscle mass loss than gradual weight loss. A very low-calorie diet can lead to significant muscle mass loss compared to a low-calorie diet. Therefore, it is important to ensure sufficient and appropriate exercise is incorporated into a weight-loss plan to retain muscle mass.
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Sleep deprivation
Sleep is intricately connected to various hormonal and metabolic processes in the body. Sleep deprivation and sleep-disordered breathing can cause metabolic dysregulation through myriad pathways involving sympathetic overstimulation, hormonal imbalance, and subclinical inflammation.
Sleep loss can affect the basic metabolic functions of storing carbohydrates and regulating hormones. Reduction of sleep from eight hours to four hours produces changes in glucose tolerance and endocrine function. Researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center found that there were changes in glucose metabolism that resemble those of type 2 diabetes patients. When the participants were tested after sleep deprivation, they took 40% longer than normal to regulate blood sugar levels after a high-carbohydrate meal. The secretion of insulin and the body's response to insulin decreased by 30%. Sleep deprivation also alters the production of hormones, lowering the secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormones and increasing blood levels of cortisol.
Chronic sleep deprivation (less than 8 hours of sleep) is associated with an increase in body mass index (BMI) and obesity. In a study with 3,000 patients, it was found that men and women who sleep less than 5 hours have elevated body mass index (BMI). In another study that followed about 70,000 women for 16 years, there was a significant increase in body weight in those who slept 5 hours or less compared to those who slept 7–8 hours. As sleep time decreased over time from the 1950s to the 2000s from about 8.5 hours to 6.5 hours, there has been an increase in the prevalence of obesity from about 10% to about 23%.
Sleep loss also affects the metabolism of skeletal muscle. Insufficient sleep has been shown to decrease myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic muscle protein synthesis and contribute to the development of muscle atrophy. Sleep deprivation alters the skeletal muscle transcriptome, increasing mRNA expression of inflammatory pathways, decreasing expression of oxidative phosphorylation and muscle protein synthesis pathways, and altering transcription of circadian clock genes.
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Frequently asked questions
Metabolism refers to the chemical processes that happen within all the cells in your body that allow you to live and function. It is the process by which your body expends energy and burns calories.
A slow metabolism can be caused by muscle loss, especially as we age. However, slow metabolism does not directly cause muscle loss. Maintaining muscle mass is one of the best ways to boost your metabolism.
Differences in metabolism speed are evident in how easy or hard it is for people to gain or lose weight. A slow metabolism burns fewer calories, which means more get stored as fat in the body.
You can speed up your metabolism by incorporating more physical activity into your life, especially strength training and high-intensity interval training. Eating enough protein is also important, as it increases the rate at which your body burns calories.
