December 02, 2008
Metabolism Myths
"Turbo-charge your metabolism!" ... "Rev up your fat-burning engine!" ... "Turn your body into a fat-melting human blast furnace!" These days, there's no shortage of diet and exercise regimens that promise to make your metabolism go from 0 to 60 faster than a Ferrari. But how much is fact and how much is fiction?
Test your metabolism IQ below:
FACT OR FICTION? For every pound of muscle you build via weight training, your body burns an extra 50 to 100 calories per day.
ANSWER: Fiction. You'll burn about five to 10 extra calories per pound of muscle. After six months to a year of regular strength training, the typical woman will put on one to three pounds of muscle; a man can pack on a few more. Thought the effect is small, the added lean tissue is nonetheless important to counteract the metabolic slowdown that comes with age. Even small improvements in your basal metabolic rate – the number of calories your body burns simply to stay alive – can help keep your weight down in the long run.
FACT OR FICTION? After exercise, you get a post-workout metabolism spike, a.k.a. the "afterburn."
ANSWER: FACT. You burn extra calories while your temperature drops and body returns to normal. The afterburn totals about 10 percent of the total calories expended during the workout – 40 to 50 calories after a moderately intense one-hour workout. For weight control, the calories you burn during exercise matter a lot more than the afterburn.
FACT OR FICTION? You can dramatically boost your metabolism by eating six meals in a day.
ANSWER: Fiction. The calorie burn associated with eating and digesting food, known as the "thermic effect of food," is minor. Frequent mini-meals will keep your blood sugar on an even keel and help control hunger, but any metabolism spike will be negligible.
FACT OR FICTION? It has been proven that guzzling water or green tea boosts metabolism.
ANSWER: Fiction. In one small German study, subjects who drank 17 ounces of water experienced an increase in metabolic rate, but the study has never been replicated, and experts are dubious. As for green tea, one study found that a large amount of green tea boosted metabolism in men, but a more recent study found no weight-loss benefit, although metabolic rate was not measured. The evidence is very limited.
FACT OR FICTION? Some people, genetically blessed with a speedy metabolism, can stay lean no matter how much food they pile on their plates, while others have a sluggish metabolism and pack on pounds easily.
ANSWER: Fact. But even if you have a naturally slow metabolism, you can control your weight with regular exercise and sensible eating habits.
More Q & A:
About Our Expert: Suzanne Schlosberg is the author of The Ultimate Workout Log and The Essential Fertility Log and coauthor of Fitness for Dummies and The Fat-Free Truth. She's a health and fitness writer living in Bend, Oregon.(login / or create an account to comment)