Weight Loss Glossary M

Metabolic Syndrome

The Mayo Clinic defines this as a cluster of warning signs such as high blood pressure, high insulin levels, excess body weight and high cholesterol.

Source:

Mayoclinic.com

Energy Metabolism

Technically speaking the definition of metabolism can be described as a general term which refers to the chemical processes that occur within all living organisms. These chemical processes may act to break down complex substances (termed as catabolism) or may act to build new substances from simpler units (termed as anabolism).

In the context of nutrition, the meaning of metabolism lies in the investigation of what happens to our food after we eat, digest and absorb it into our blood stream (energy intake) and how the body either spends this energy intake (energy expenditure) or stores it.

Click here to sign up for My Free Diet & Fitness Weight Loss Tips

Definition of Metabolism: Energy Intake

When we eat food, which in nutrition-speak is called energy intake; the body responds to this through a process described above called catabolism and breaks the food down into units the body can more readily use.

Carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars, fats are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids and proteins are broken down into their respective amino acids. The food then is absorbed mostly from the small intestines directly into the blood, or through osmosis (via the lymphatic system).[1]

At the cellular level, the body obtains its energy through releasing heat and energy from food through a chemical reaction called oxidation.

Definition of Metabolism: Energy Expenditure

The energy obtained is then used to fuel the essential chemical processes necessary, maintain cells and basic physiological functions such as breathing. The rate at which energy for these purposes is spent is called the metabolic rate. A high metabolic rate requires a high amount of calories to be spent while a lower metabolic rate requires fewer calories to be spent to maintain the body.[1]

Basal Metabolic Rate

The body spends energy on three main processes, the basal metabolic rate, thermo genesis and the metabolic rate during physical activity. For our purposes, we'll quickly run through the first two.

The Basal Metabolic Rate is the rate at which energy is spent in breathing, muscular work, and brain activity etc,. It consumes the most energy, or burns the most calories.

The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the most commonly used term when explaining the definition of metabolism. The BMR, is also fairly commonly used interchangeably with resting metabolic rate (RMR) although BMR is slightly higher than that of the RMR.[2]

Source:

[1] Peckenpaugh, N.J., (2003) Nutrition Essentials and Diet Therapy 9th Edition Elsevier Science (USA) p. 58 - 60

[2] Gibney, M. J., Vorster, H. H., Frans, J. K., (2002) Introduction to Human Nutrition Blackwell Science, Blackwell Publishing p. 31

Top of Weight Loss Glossary M Page

Diet & Fitness Tips

If you found this useful, get great diet recipes, fat burning exercises and other articles like this article in the weekly diet & fitness newsletter. Sign up now so that you don't forget.

Email Name Then Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure. I promise to use it only to send you Diet & Fitness Tips.