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Exercise, Stress and Lack of Sleep can Affect your Metabolism
Metabolism refers to the rate at which your body utilizes calories to meet
energy demands. The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) refers to the number of
calories you burn while your body is at rest. Your BMR decreases as you age.
This means that it is harder for your body to burn calories and harder for
you to lose weight. A daily routine of cardiovascular exercise can improve
your health and fitness and increase your BMR. Stress has both positive and
negative impact on the metabolism. Initially, it increases it to provide
extra fuel for the body to react to any stressful situation. Prolonged
stress, however, can actually lower the BMR by disrupting the digestive
system. Lack of sleep makes you too tired to exercise or to
work out
intensely. It reduces your BMR. If you reduce the amount of stress in your
life and get more sleep each night, your normal BMR will return. Not easy in
the modern world, with its fast pace and demands on your time, but it can be
done.
Exercise
That exercise increases the BMR is a well known
weight loss fact, but did you know that
some exercises will cause the body to continue burning calories at a higher
rate after the exercise is finished? The amount depends on how hard and how
long you exercise. For example, a 154 pound person running 8 mph will burn
320 calories in 20 minutes. If that same person walks 3 mph for an hour, she
will burn only 235 calories. Walking or jogging will restore the BMR within
60 minutes, meaning that, at best, you will lose 10-30 additional calories
during your recovery period. Low-intensity exercise training does have a
plus side. Studies have shown that fat oxidation increases by 40%.
High-intensity exercise training, on the other hand, does not affect fat
oxidation, but you will continue burning calories at the accelerated rate
well into the next morning. So which form of exercise should you choose?
Experts say that low-intensity exercise is preferable because the risk of
musculoskeletal injuries is lower and you are more likely to stay with a low
intensity exercise program.
Stress
During periods of stress, the hypothalamus instructs the adrenal glands to
release epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine and cortisol into the
bloodstream to speed up heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and
metabolism. Epinephrine breaks down glycogen into glucose in the liver. Both
hormones increase circulating free fatty acids. The extra glucose and
fatty
acids are used by the body as fuel in times of stress. Prolonged stress
disrupts the digestive system. The stomach produces excessive amounts of
digestive acids. Irritable bowel syndrome develops when the smooth muscular
contractions that move food along the large become spastic. When the abdomen
becomes bloated, a person experiences cramping, constipation and diarrhea.
Studies suggest that stress may make a person more susceptible to peptic
ulcers or sustain existing ulcers. Stress has also been related to increased
flare-ups of ulcerative colitis. Such conditions serve to lower the BMR. If
the stress is removed, the body improves and the
Basal Metabolism is raised.
Lack of Sleep
The lack of sleep has been shown to change hormone levels in the body. As
sleep decreases, the adrenal gland produces more of the hormone cortisol. It
regulates appetite and when its levels increase people continue to
feel
hungry despite being full. Lack of sleep also causes levels of growth
hormone to decline. This reduces muscle mass and strength, increases fat
tissue, and weakens the immune system. Insulin is a hormone produced by the
pancreas to carry sugar (glucose) from the blood to the muscles and other
tissues within the body. Insulin levels increase when the body does not get
enough sleep. Because insulin causes sugars to be stored as fats, increased
insulin makes weight control difficult. Sleep deprived individuals often eat
candy or cookies when they feel their energy level dropping. As their blood
sugar rises, energy returns, but the unneeded calories are converted to fat.
Tired people burn fewer calories because they lack the energy to exercise or
work out intensely. They may exercise the same duration as a rested person,
but they will burn fewer calories. Getting
enough sleep reduces the effects of increased cortisol levels.
Is it my slow metabolism?
Metabolic slowdown when dieting
Factors that speed up metabolism
Benefits to increasing your metabolism
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