Basal metabolism indicates the energy expenditure of an organism at rest. Each person has a slightly different metabolism from the others, so food needs are also different. As a general rule, metabolism tends to be faster in short, very active people. Pregnancy can also speed it up. Read on to find out how to slow down your metabolism.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Calculate Basal Metabolism
Step 1. Find out what your basal (ie resting) metabolic rate is
You can use online sites, or the following formulas based on your gender:
- Women: MB = 447, 593 + (9, 247 x weight in kg) + (3, 098 x height in cm) - (4, 330 x age in years)
- Men: MB = 88, 362 + (13, 397 x weight in kg) + (4,799 x weight in cm) - (5, 677 x age in years)
Step 2. Calculate your daily calorie needs using the Harris-Benedict formula
After calculating the MB, you can estimate the calories you need based on your different levels of daily activity. Slowing down your metabolism means your body needs less energy. Start from your MB to perform the calculation. If you are:
- Sedentary or rarely exercising: calories to keep weight constant = MB x 1, 2
- Light physical activity 1 to 3 times a week: calories to keep weight constant = MB x 1,375
- Moderate physical activity 3 to 5 times a week: calories to keep weight constant = MB x 1.55
- Sustained physical activity 6 or 7 times a week: calories to maintain constant weight = MB x 1,725
- Intense physical activity every day: calories to keep weight constant = MB x 1, 9
Method 2 of 3: Slow down your metabolism to put on weight
Step 1. "Slow" metabolism is not necessarily responsible for weight gain
If you want to put on a few pounds, search WikiHow for specific articles on the subject. Doctors generally argue that weight changes don't depend on metabolism alone, but on a variety of factors:
- The daily calorie intake.
- Daily physical activity and its intensity level.
- The genetic makeup and family history.
- The medications you take.
- Wrong and unhealthy habits, eg. sleep deprivation.
Step 2. Slowing down your metabolism is not the healthiest way to gain weight
This process can include some rather unpleasant things, like skipping meals, decreasing your daily calorie intake, and so on. If you intend to do it in a healthy way, you must:
- Increase your calorie intake. Consume more calories than you would be able to consume each day.
- Tell your doctor about any medical conditions that have caused you to lose weight, eg. thyroid problems, diabetes, anorexia nervosa.
Step 3. Skip meals
It is useful for slowing down the metabolism, although it is not the healthiest method. When you skip meals, your body begins to fear that there is a period of famine, so your metabolism slows down to conserve energy.
Step 4. Eat fewer calories than usual
When the body receives fewer calories, it has to compensate by slowing down its metabolism, which makes sense: if it has to work in these conditions, it cannot consume the same amount of energy it would normally use.
Attention: When you give your body fewer calories, it may start burning muscle tissue to compensate. If you are already very thin, this is not the best way to gain weight.
Step 5. Take a few naps
When you sleep, your metabolism tends to slow down and remains unchanged for some time after you wake up.
Step 6. Whenever possible, replace simple carbohydrates (sugar) with complex ones (starch and fiber)
It has been shown that sugars and fruit are digested and absorbed more quickly than complex carbohydrates, such as those in bread, which creates sudden imbalances in blood sugar levels. It has also been shown that, over a six-month period, carbohydrate oxidation is lower with complex carbohydrate intake (bread and cornstarch) than with sugar intake.
- Sucrose (table sugar) also contains fructose, while complex carbohydrates are composed exclusively of glucose units. Consumption of fructose causes higher thermogenesis (calorie consumption) than glucose consumption.
- Choose foods that are high in fiber, such as grains (especially whole grains) and vegetables. High-fiber meals reduce thermogenesis (the consumption of calories) for six hours after eating.
Step 7. Include nuts and seeds in your diet
Of all foods, nuts and seeds contain no moisture, provide unsaturated fats and have a high calorie density. Polyunsaturated fats, such as those in nuts, have been shown to oxidize more slowly than monounsaturated fats. Nuts and seeds are also rich in arginine, which the body uses to produce nitric oxide, a gas that reduces the metabolic rate.
Method 3 of 3: Slow Down Metabolism in an Emergency Situation
Step 1. Wear warm clothing
The loss of heat causes additional energy consumption, so wear warm clothing to slow down your metabolism. When you're cold, protein breakdown increases, interfering with ATP production. Heat increases rather than turning calories into useful energy.
In this situation, the level of thyroid hormones also increases, which could trigger the breakdown of proteins. Thyroid hormones play a very important role in regulating metabolism
Step 2. Stick to other people if you are in company
Move to the hottest spot you can find, or build shelter if you are outdoors.
Step 3. Stand still
Any action requires a waste of energy and, therefore, calories. Even the smallest movement, such as picking up a stick or moving a stone. If you exercise for a while, your metabolism will be accelerated for a while even if you are at rest. You can burn 100 calories for every kilometer and a half you walk, but this type of activity doesn't make your metabolism faster. Try to sleep if possible.
Step 4. Don't drink cold water and don't eat snow
Your body would need more energy to heat the ingested water, but you have to conserve all your strength: you may need it at a critical moment, for example to get food.
Advice
- Stay warm, but don't let your body get too hot. Make sure the clothing you wrapped yourself in allows for perspiration. If the temperature is too high, the body starts to sweat and burns more calories, just like when you are cold.
- Avoid caffeine: it is a stimulant that speeds up the heartbeat and, consequently, also the metabolism.
- Try to relax. If you are in an emergency situation, fear would lead you to consume more energy. Stress increases the level of adrenaline and thyroxine, two hormones that speed up metabolism.
- Remember that an optimal temperature (not too high or too low) is important for conserving strength. Some studies show that the body uses its energy most efficiently between 24 ° and 27 °. Between 20 ° and 22 ° the organism tries to produce heat; causes a slight difference in metabolism, accelerating it by 2-5%. Between 28 ° and 30 ° the metabolism accelerates in the same way by inducing thermogenesis to heat the body. In hot water no less heat is produced (because the regulation of the temperature depends on the thyroid hormone, constantly produced by the organism); on the contrary, the body consumes more energy due to sweating. It is not possible to change thermogenesis on command to make you feel colder or to conserve energy.
- If you have hyperthyroidism, you should probably take 120-300 mg per day of potassium iodide. Methimazole and propylthiouracil take weeks to lower the level of thyroid hormones. The thyroid gland has a huge reserve of already formed hormones; it can release them into the bloodstream even if the production of the new hormones is suppressed. Methimazole and propylthiouracil reduce the production of hormones, but do not block their release. Potassium iodide, on the other hand, blocks both the production and release of thyroid hormones. It causes a slowdown in metabolism comparable to that which occurs after thyroid surgery. This is why it is used in emergencies to protect the thyroid from iodine 131, a radioactive form of iodine that causes cancer.
- It is possible to change the metabolism within a certain limit. There is no doubt, for example, that sleep slows it down, but the change is less incisive than we think: the metabolism slows down by 5-15% compared to when you rest when you are awake. Genetics also plays an important role in this regard, although it has been overrated. On the other hand, body size is also a significant factor: tall, thin people lose heat more easily than fat ones; those with good muscle mass are healthier and stronger, but they also need more food. This is why men need more calories than women. Age is also an important factor: metabolism slows down by about 2% every 10 years. Older people need fewer calories. There are other factors that are still being studied, such as ion pumps or the sodium-potassium pump. Diseases and menstruation are factors over which we have no control and which accelerate both metabolism and needs.
