When we struggle to lose weight, despite cutting the worst offenders out of our diet, we might self-diagnose a ‘slow metabolism’ as the cause. And we all think we know someone with a naturally fast metabolism, who can eat whatever they want and never gain a pound. The ‘M’ word is thrown around a lot these days – but what is it?
Simply put, metabolism is the rate at which your body breaks down the nutrients in food to produce energy. This powers everything from organ function and breathing to cell repair and food digestion. The faster you convert calories to energy, the higher your metabolism – in some cases, this makes it easier to keep off extra weight.
