Metabolism affects how the body uses calories to create energy. Hormones, thyroid conditions, and drugs can cause slow metabolism, leading to weight gain. Women going through menopause may experience a slower metabolism due to a lack of estrogen. Analyzing diet and adding activities can help increase metabolism.
Metabolism is the body’s way of using calories to create energy, and there seem to be some lucky people on the planet who can “eat anything” and never gain a pound. Many people have an average metabolism, but a lack of certain things like certain hormones can change how the body does its calorie conversion. Sometimes these changes are natural and other times they can be the result of physical problems. Depending on what’s causing the problem, there will be different symptoms of slow metabolism.
For example, women going through menopause lose access to hormones like estrogen, which play an important role in helping keep weight gain to a minimum. During the reproductive years, calorie needs are typically higher because some fat storage is required if women choose to have children. After menopause, women tend to need fewer calories and gain weight more easily, especially around the midsection. It’s true that post-menopausal women have a slower metabolism than before menopause, although some women may not notice a noticeable difference especially if they eat healthy diets and exercise a lot.
One of the main causes of true “slow metabolism” is low thyroid hormone, which is actually quite common and can occur in both men and women. The symptoms are usually listed as identical to those of hypothyroidism and many people can mean low thyroid when they say slow metabolism. These symptoms are fatigue, easy weight gain, difficulty losing weight, dry skin, brittle nails, lower than normal body temperature at noon, menstrual irregularities, depression, and significant hair loss. Not all symptoms need to be present for hypothyroidism to exist.
Thyroid conditions, if ignored, can have cumulative destructive effects on the body, including premature aging and early degradation of mental acuity. It is worth getting checked for thyroid disorders when any of these symptoms are present or if the metabolism is suspect. For those who initially show slightly elevated thyroid stimulating hormone levels, but normal thyroid 3 and thyroid 4 levels, it may be important to ask doctors about thyroid peroxidase antibody testing. This can diagnose Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the most common and often overlooked autoimmune thyroid condition.
Another way people might look at metabolism is to try to add up the calories they consume versus the calories they burn. Figuring out exactly how many calories are being burned can be difficult, as this will depend on your size, muscle mass and activity level. Intensity during activity could also change the count, but by using a calorie counter, people can get a fair estimate of the calories consumed each day. They can also track how many calories they take in. With a moderate level of activity and moderate calorie consumption (depending on size, age and gender) your weight should stay stable, but if it increases, your metabolism may be to blame.
Sometimes other things can cause slow metabolism and the main symptoms might just be weight gain. This can include starvation or not eating regularly. People who don’t eat at regular intervals tend to stop losing weight or even gain weight, because their bodies can start storing as many calories as possible. The drugs can also change the way some bodies handle calories and can depress the body’s ability to process calories.
What should impress most people is that weight gain without other symptoms and without weight-inducing drugs may not be the result of a slow metabolism. Instead, it could simply mean that too many calories are entering the body for the current level of activity. There is a fix for this. Analyze your diet and determine where to cut some calories and add activities to your daily menu so you burn more calories. If these measures prove ineffective, consult your doctors for further advice or tests.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
