Comments on: What is Metabolism?

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:25:32 +0000

Thanks for commenting Toby. Unfortunately, the thermic effect of food only accounts for around 10% of the total calories you consume. Whilst you can raise this amount slightly your basal metabolic rate and your level of physical activity have a much larger impact on your overall metabolism.

By: Toby

Toby — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:08:11 +0000

I haven’t come across much info about metabolims / metabolics rates before, so, thanks for posting this. Also, I have to admit that I’ve never really thought about the thermic effect of different foods before. How much effort should we put into monitoring the thermic rate of our food? Is it a very important consideration to a weight loss program? I guess “reading above” that if you were slightly overweight, eating food with more spices would increase your metabolic rate and help you burn more fat.

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 11:25:25 +0000

Glad you like the article Steve.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:41:40 +0000

Nice explanation of metabolism and how different things impact it. Hot image too, quite tantalizing. It is surprising to me the effect that thermogenics has on your metabolism. Besides spicy foods, I have also heard that drinking icy cold beverages helps your metabolic rate as well as your body then needs to warm it up in your stomach in order to process it. And then an increase in lean muscle mass is huge too. Thanks for putting this online.

Steve

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:18:49 +0000

Thanks for your comments Strong One. Hydration is a strange one for me. Monday to Friday I am constantly topping up on water because our office is quite hot and I always want to have some water close by. This keeps me really well hydrated. However, on weekends I drink a lot less water and more caffeine so am a lot less hydrated. Something I need to work on too.

By: Strong One

Strong One — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:34:33 +0000

GREAT information. Thanks for including all the non-specific tertiary influences (like the weather).
I am a huge believer in your BMR and how it is affected by your activity. Personally, I believe my BMR increased over the past year due to my increased activity and my increased muscle mass. So I’m living proof.

Thanks for the tip on hydration. I’m really bad at hydration. I live in a constant dehydrated state due to my consumption of caffeine (yeah, yeah.. I know). I’m working on it.