Your Metabolism Questions Answered

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions in the human body that is needed to maintain life. Our bodies acquire the energy we need from food through metabolism. Chemical reactions convert the food to energy, which is used for every function (even thinking!) in the body. Metabolism is vital for all life. If there is no metabolism, a living thing can not live. For explanation purposes, metabolism is broken down into three easily discussed areas. First, we have anabolism. Anabolism creates the energy required for growth. Food products are digested so that the body can create cells, maintain tissue and store energy for future needs. Second, catabolism is the process that uses energy to break down tissue. In this process, cells breakdown to release energy for the body. This energy is used for movement (muscle contraction) and creating body heat to maintain our internal temperature. Lastly, we have basal metabolism. Basal metabolism is the amount of energy expended when the body is at rest. This is important for quite a few reasons, but the one that is the most relevant is weight loss. If you think of energy as calories (calories are the amount of energy the body gets from food), the higher the basal metabolic rate, the more calories the body burns at rest. The more efficient the body is at utilizing or burning calories, the more the body loses weight. Individual basal metabolic rate can easily be raised to make the body more effective at burning calories and losing weight. The most productive way of raising the basal metabolism is through exercise. Naturally, exercise burns calories at the time the exercise is being performed. Research has also shown that 2-3 hours after an exercise session, the body continues to burn calories at a higher rate due to increased metabolic activity. More importantly, muscle tissue requires energy (calories) to exist. The more tone your muscles become, the more calories your body burns at rest. Ultimately, with time and effort, your body can be a calorie burning, weight loss machine, just lying on the couch!

Thought for the Week: "Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."

~Edward Stanley

Chiropractic Thought for the Week: "....a vertebral subluxation can negatively affect general health by altering the neurological communication between the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. Although individuals may not always be symptomatic, chiropractors believe that the presence of vertebral subluxation is in itself justification for correction via spinal adjustment.

------- Wikipedia.org, The Vertebral Subluxation