Dr Oz: What Is Metabolism?
Dr Oz wanted to kick off his October 12 show by talking about your metabolism. Everyone seems to know what it is, but not how to explain it. He enlisted Ta’Rhonda Jones to take to the streets of Chicago to ask people about their metabolisms. When asked what metabolism is, and only one person actually knew how to properly explain it. Just about everyone she was talking to didn’t knw where the metabolism was located, but knew that it was much faster when they were younger than how it is now.
Ta-Rhonda Jones then joined the show and had Dr Oz properly explain metabolism to her. He said to think of your body as a metabolic furnace, burning calories efficiently if you have a lot of muscle, keeping you from gaining weight. If you don’t have a lot of muscle, you can’t burn through the calories, so you gain weight. That’s what a metabolism really is.
Dr Oz helped give everyone a better understand of their metabolism and then shared how you can speed yours up to lose weight. (leomei / Flickr)
Dr Oz: Burning Calories & Building Muscle
Dr Caroline Cederquist, a bariatric physician, explained that for most people, most of the calories we burn are actually burnt at rest, not while we’re up and moving. The catch is that all of us eat more than two thirds of the energy we need. Dr Oz then handed Ta-Rhonda a jump rope and she showed off her skills after taking off her heels. Dr Oz explained that the other third of energy comes from movement.
Dr Caroline said any exercise is good, but small bursts of exercise may work better to burn more fat. Break up your exercise into three different shorter segments and you may see better results. Dr Oz explained that there’s a certain number of calories, your BMR, that says how many calories you burn in one day at rest. To that, you have to add however many calories you burn through exercise, and that’s how many calories you need to eat in order to avoid gaining weight.
Dr Caroline explained that most of our metabolism is determined by our muscle mass. That’s why it’s important to build muscle when exercising. But what if your metabolism has already slowed down? Can you change it? Dr Caroline said it comes down to losing fat and maintaining muscle in the process. To do that, you need to pay more attention to your diet.
Dr Oz: More Protein For Faster Metabolism
When most of us go on a diet, we cut out a lot of things, which makes things even harder on our metabolism. Dr Caroline said one of the most important things when it comes to your metabolism is not losing your muscle. In order to keep your muscle, you need protein regularly throughout the day. Rather than thinking about what to cut out of your diet, think instead about adding protein. Approximately 25-30 grams of protein at each meal in order to speed up your metabolism.
Dr Oz: Eat More Protein To Gain Muscle
There was a study that looked at people who went on a diet and put half of them on a high protein program, the others were on a low protein program, and all were told they could eat however much they wanted. They both gained weight, but in those with a high protein diet, half the weight gain was muscle. The key is lean protein like a breakfast frittata, a turkey burger, apples with peanut butter, and chicken with turkey bacon brussel sprouts.
Have you found any great tips or tricks to speeding up your metabolism?
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