A UK television programme completed a small study to
find out, and the results were startling!
The documentary in the UK called “The Truth About Food” found two women who
were best friends, but had very different body types. One of the women,
Becky, was very slim and even a little underweight. The other woman, Jo, was
shorter and 22 pounds overweight. They had known each other for years, and
they both believed that Becky was slim because she had a much
faster
metabolism, even though she seemed to eat much more than Jo. Jo believed she
was overweight because she had a slow metabolism. She also stated that she
had tried to lose weight on numerous occasions in the past but to no avail.
They both agreed to be tested and closely monitored by scientists and
nutritionists for the documentary. Both fasted for 24 hours before having
their metabolic rate accurately measured in the lab using a ventilation
hood. They were also told to drink a bottle of special water which would
help measure their metabolism, but in fact, the water was double labelled
water which has a non-radioactive isotope marker added to it. This water is
well known in science and can accurately measure the total amount of
calories someone consumes as well as the total
number of calories burned off
over the following week. The scientists didn’t reveal the truth about the
water because they didn’t want the women to be influenced and adjust their
normal food intake in any way. This made it much more accurate in relation
to their normal everyday food consumption.
The results revealed that both had very similar activity levels, but in fact
Jo actually had a higher metabolic rate than slimmer Becky!
It was revealed that the higher metabolism was basically due to the extra
weight which Jo was carrying. This is logical because moving more weight
requires more effort. However, it shows that Jo did not have a
weight
problem caused from a slow metabolism.
The study also revealed that Jo was in fact consuming about 50 percent more
calories than Becky!
It also showed that Becky was underweight simply because she was consuming
fewer calories than she needed.
After the results both women were astonished! It was the total opposite of
what both had believed for years. Jo said Becky could eat a lot during the
day but never seemed to gain any weight. Becky stated that Jo only had to
look at food in order to gain weight. This is the reason they believed it
was down to each having a different metabolic rate.
The documentary concluded that some scientists believe that a
slow
metabolism is NOT to blame for excess weight gain. It was also suggested
that overweight people tend to have a higher metabolism than those who are
slim and underweight. They also implied that people will for the most part
gain weight, because, in some way, they have consumed more energy than their
body requires.
It seems one fact remains: if we consume more calories than our body
requires, we will put weight on. The trick is to find new ways to eat so you
consume fewer total calories than your body requires.
But how can it seem that some people can eat loads and
never gain weight?
On reflection, I thought it could be some sort of
illusion that may be taking place. For example, if a slim person eats little
and often, could it give an impression to others that they always seem to be
eating? If so, this could give the illusion that they must be consuming tons
of calories.
What if the snacks a slimmer person eats are generally low in calories, thus
the total intake still only amounts to a balanced or even lower energy
intake? Also, what if they don’t always eat the entire meal? Leaving some
food on a plate means less calories consumed.
Another possibility is individual activity levels. Slimmer people could be
more energetic because they are lighter and require less effort to move
around. This could be helping them to move about enough during an average
day to maintain or cause a negative energy balance.
In comparison to a slim person, a heavier individual has the potential to
burn more calories during exercise, due to the extra effort to move the
weight. However, the high effort may be slightly uncomfortable for some, and
in general, they may not move around as much as a thinner person. This would
result in a heavier person expending less total energy so they could end up
struggling to lose weight.
Also, intake of food can sometimes become hidden through
portion size.
Portion sizes can easily become distorted because of what we are used to
getting in restaurants. As a result, some overweight people could be
thinking they don’t eat much because they only have 2 or 3 meals each day,
but if portion size is large enough then total energy consumed can rise
dramatically. As an example, a Chinese take-away meal for one can be as high
as 1500 calories; this is near the total
daily energy intake for an average
woman in the UK!
Good News for the Slow Metabolism!
So, at least the study revealed some good news; many overweight people tend to have a higher
metabolism. This can help tremendously as weight control is ultimately
reliant on maintaining an effective rate of metabolism when calories are
reduced. However it's still possible to increase your
metabolism further, and at the same time, decrease your appetite with
the right selection of foods and an
effective exercise routine suited to
your specific body type and lifestyle. It’s not as simple as just telling
you to follow this diet or to do these exercises. You really need to
discover your specific physiological needs and match them to your own
food
preferences and lifestyle. Doing this will require some work in learning
about the basics of nutrition and physiology but it will put you on the
right tracks to eliminating excess body fat for years to come!
Here is a link to the BBC study:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/slim/
