The secret of your metabolism

Metabolism in humans is the process of converting food into energy for the body to function. People with a fast metabolism burn calories faster. Exercise in a way that helps you boost your metabolism, suitable for someone trying to control weight.

Human metabolism is a series of biochemical processes inside each cell that convert calories eaten into a source of energy for living. Even when doing nothing, metabolism is still going on - known as resting/ground state metabolism.
Metabolism, specifically resting metabolism, is the engine for the body to function. It's the energy you burn to keep your heart beating, your lungs breathing, and other organs working. Large organs in the body alone, such as the brain, liver, kidneys, and heart, account for up to 50% of the calories burned from this process.
Unless you are an elite athlete, resting metabolism accounts for 60-75% of the total calories you burn each day and varies greatly from person to person. If you're counting calories, knowing your resting metabolism can help you figure out how much to eat without gaining weight.
People with a natural high metabolic rate can eat more without gaining weight, thanks to the ability to burn calories at a faster rate. This amazing group of people with "internal combustion engines" will burn hundreds of calories a day naturally without having to do any exercise. However, it is quite difficult to boost your inherent resting metabolic rate than slow it down. The following are scientifically proven ways that can impact human metabolism.
MORE: How to boost your metabolism?

Researchers say lack of sleep leads to weight gain. Specifically, people who don't sleep for at least 6 hours a night tend to overeat and often crave sugary, starchy foods. But overeating isn't the only problem when you're sleep-deprived, and not getting enough rest also slows down your metabolism.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently observed the sleep of 36 healthy adults. For 5 days, one group slept only 4 hours a night; the other half slept until 10 o'clock. Although the sleep group was less active and awake for longer hours during the day, their resting metabolism slowed by about 50-60 calories per day, the study authors said. While not a huge number, the impact can be dramatically increased if you consistently have many sleep-deprived nights.
What's even more concerning is that the sleep-deprived people ate about 500 extra calories per day. Therefore, the total calorie increase due to insufficient sleep is significant - about 550 calories per day, which is enough to lead to an increase of about 0.5kg per week.

The calories from fat and carbohydrates are the same, but protein is a different story. There are several benefits to increasing protein intake, which include boosting metabolism. Specifically, the body spends more energy digesting and absorbing protein, compared to fats and carbohydrates. Protein can also increase metabolic rate, albeit to a very small extent.
The keto diet converts calories from fat into energy, instead of sugar or carbohydrates, which can also help with metabolism. Menus of this style of diet usually contain more fat or protein and less carbohydrates.
A recent study had 17 overweight or obese men follow two different low-calorie diets:
The first was a high-carbohydrate and low-fat diet. The second is the low-carbohydrate and high-fat keto diet. Protein was kept the same in two diets. As a result, the participants lost weight on both diets, but the metabolic rate on the keto diet was slightly higher.
In short, useful information for people who are trying to lose weight is that if you plan to cut calories, don't cut back on protein. Eating more protein can keep your resting metabolism high, which can help you both lose weight and maintain energy.

When losing weight, our body will go through a difficult battle. The body's ability to "anti-lose weight" is likened to when you pull a spring: the more you pull your weight away from normal, the more resistant your body becomes. And the body's way to combat weight loss is to slow down your resting metabolism. The faster and more intense the weight loss, the slower the metabolism.
A recent study followed obese people who were promoted to intense training with a trainer for up to 4 and a half hours a day and a strict diet to quickly lose weight. After 7 months like this, some people have lost up to half of their original weight. However, the problem is that the metabolism also slows down when the weight is reduced. At the end of the training, the participants were at their lowest weight, and their resting metabolism had also lost an average of more than 600 calories per day.
The decline in metabolism was even more than scientists predicted, as well as uncorrectable and getting slower over time. Specifically, 13/14 participants have returned to the same weight, even 4 are now heavier than before participating. Some people say they still have cravings for junk food, while the body has lost the ability to burn these calories. Thus, the body will react very strongly when you change your lifestyle and interfere too much with weight.

MORE: 21 Days of Weight Loss and Exercise: A Beginner's Guide and Review
Hormones, especially the hunger-dispelling hormone leptin - may play a role. Specifically, those who participated in such a rigorous weight loss course had 80% less leptin by the end of the process, compared with a similar group of people who lost weight through surgery. Scientists are currently testing whether injecting leptin after weight loss can maintain metabolism and prevent weight gain.
Until there is a drug to prevent weight gain again, the advice is to lose weight slowly and steadily. Better yet, try to change the way you think about weight loss. Instead of drastically cutting calories and exhausting yourself at the gym to hit a certain weight, focus on healthier and simpler habits that you can stick with for the long term.

Reference source: .webmd.com