2023-05-10 19:29:01
Anyone who gains weight quickly or has trouble losing weight may be suffering from a disturbed metabolism. These people are more likely to hear advice to get more exercise. Because sporting activities would boost the metabolism properly. But is that true?
Sport should boost the metabolism and thus increase calorie consumption – so the assumption. But is the impact that movement can have in this regard being overstated? However, one study came to a surprising conclusion.
course of the study
In order to determine the influence of sport on the metabolism, the responsible scientists first measured the total energy expenditure of 348 adults. The subjects drank a glass of water that had previously been enriched with hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. These can be tracked in the body. The isotopes are lost through metabolic activities such as excretion, sweating and respiration. How quickly the isotopes leave the body allows conclusions to be drawn about the number of calories burned – and thus the speed and efficiency of the metabolism. The total energy expenditure measured in this way was measured at two different points in time. For some test persons there were only two weeks between the measurements, for others up to eight years. Finally, physical traits such as height, fat and muscle mass were included to infer whether a person had a “fast” or “slow” metabolism.1
Metabolism is individual
The surprising result: The metabolism varied from person to person by 20 percent or more – regardless of how much exercise they did and how fit they were physically.
Does an inefficient metabolism cause weight gain?
According to experts, one possible sign of an impaired or “slow” metabolism is gaining weight and/or having difficulty losing weight. But of course this symptom does not apply to every person affected by metabolic disorders. The study discussed here also provides indications of this.
In a second step, the scientists investigated the extent to which the metabolism affected a person’s weight and compared the test persons’ data over different periods of time. Did a faster metabolism automatically mean losing weight more easily? No, according to the researchers. A slow metabolism did not increase the likelihood of gaining weight in study participants, any more than a fast metabolism decreased the likelihood of gaining weight.
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Sport affects the entire body
According to the study, sport has no direct influence on metabolism. It should be mentioned that a study from 2021 was able to show the effects of training on the metabolism. What’s more, depending on the time of day you exercised, the effect on your metabolism varied. (FITBOOK reported).2
Ultimately, it is clear that physical activity – regardless of the specific influence on metabolism – has a positive effect on health. Regular exercise can prevent a variety of diseases, improve cardiovascular health, keep the body mobile, and even protect against mental illness.3 On the other hand, the idea that exercise boosts the metabolism and thus makes it easier to lose weight seems to be a mistaken assumption – or at least universally tenable for everyone.
Sources
- 1. Rimbach , R. , Yamada , Y. , Sagayama , H. et al. (2022.) Total energy expenditure is repeatable in adults but not associated with short-term changes in body composition. Nature Communications.
- 2. Mancilla, R., Brouwers, B., Schrauwen-Hinderling, VB et al. (2021). Exercise training elicits superior metabolic effects when performed in the afternoon compared to morning in metabolically compromised humans. Physiological Reports.
- 3. Miko, HC, Zillmann, N., Ring-Dimitriou, S., et al. (2020.) Effects of Physical Activity on Health. healthcare.
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#influence #exercise #metabolism