Find out how much energy you spend during the day, how nutrients are spent at rest and when a person is on the verge of obesity. A healthy diet involves some rules. One of the main ones can be considered the compensation of the caloric content of the diet of all the daily energy consumption of a person. Simply put, you should consume as many calories as you expend. In this situation, it becomes possible to maintain a normal body weight. Today we will talk about nutrient expenditure at rest and movement.
The amount of daily energy consumption
This indicator is the sum of three values:
- Basic metabolism.
- Acceleration of metabolic processes during a meal.
- Increased metabolism caused by physical activity.
We have already said that the daily calorie expenditure must be covered by food. However, this rule is true if you are of normal weight. For those who want to lose weight or gain weight, the situation is different. When you consume fewer calories than the body needs, catabolic processes are activated. As a result, energy metabolism is disrupted and a person loses weight.
In this case, a decrease in performance is possible and the body will no longer be able to quickly adapt to external conditions. This can lead to health problems. If the energy deficit was created artificially in order to eliminate excess weight, then its indicator should not be large. In this case, health problems will not arise.
Basic metabolism
This indicator must be determined in the morning on an empty stomach at room temperature and always in the supine position. Basic metabolism characterizes all energy expenditures to ensure the normal functioning of all body systems. It is influenced by many factors, for example, age, gender, the state of the nervous system, the quality of nutrition, etc.
The basic metabolism in women in comparison with men is, on average, five percent lower. In older people, this indicator differs from the young percent by 10-15. In a child's body, metabolic processes proceed somewhat faster on average than in an adult. An equally important factor in this matter is the constitution of the body. Overweight people have a slower metabolism compared to active people with a normal body mass index. The average basal metabolic rate in an adult is one calorie for every kilogram of body weight in an hour.
During the consumption of food, metabolic processes are accelerated, and this is especially true for foods containing protein compounds. It's all about activating the work of the digestive system and some muscles. Metabolic processes are often accelerated by 12 percent or less during a meal. The basic metabolism also increases as a result of any physical activity. Even if you sit quietly, your basal metabolic rate rises by 15 percent on average. During walking, the basal metabolic rate increases at an average rate of 100 percent, and when running, 400 percent.
Through exercise, the metabolism can increase 10 to 20 times. This fact speaks of the importance of playing sports for weight loss. There is a theory of balanced proper nutrition, according to which the normal functioning of the body is possible only if it is fully provided with the necessary energy.
Basal metabolism when eating
This indicator is greatly influenced by the foods you eat. Essential nutrients do not increase metabolic rate equally. As we said above, protein compounds have the maximum effect on metabolic processes - from 30 to 40 percent. For fats and carbohydrates, this figure is lower - 4-14 and 4-7 percent, respectively. Note that the acceleration of metabolism during a meal is called the specific dynamic effect of food.
Physical activity metabolism
Today, many people know that physical activity accelerates the basal metabolism. Actually, it is with this that the recommendations are connected to actively deal with the port during the period of weight loss. A special table of physical activity ratios for different population groups was created. If you know your basal metabolic rate, you can easily calculate your daily calorie expenditure thanks to your physical activity ratio.
What is the rate at which nutrients are consumed at rest and in motion?
Many people today believe that the main reason for weight gain is the high amount of carbohydrates in the diet. However, in practice this is not entirely true, as has been proven in several studies. After a three-day diet high in carbohydrates, fat gain was mainly due to the fat in the food.
Only after a week of using such a diet, the glycogen stores in the body increase by half a kilo, and the nutrient begins to convert into adipose tissues. But high-carb eating programs are satiating and difficult to consume in large quantities. This suggests that our body has a kind of defense mechanism against excessive consumption of carbohydrates. If you eat carbohydrate-rich foods periodically, your fat stores will not increase.
Let's find out how things are with fats. Recall that this nutrient is one of the main sources of energy. If a person consumes a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, then they are used as a source of energy. Otherwise, energy is obtained from fat. Many scientists agree that satiety is directly related to the amount of carbohydrates entering the body. Until the required nutrient level is reached, you will feel hungry.
All of this suggests that a low-carb meal plan can lead to overeating. The human body is practically unable to cope with large amounts of fat on its own by regulating appetite. If there are effective self-regulation mechanisms for protein compounds and carbohydrates, then fats are located at the bottom of the oxidative chain, with the help of which the body chooses one or another source of energy. Scientists explain this fact by the unlimited ability to store fat as a reserve source of energy.
According to the results of the conducted studies, when walking (about 25 percent of the maximum oxygen consumption) at a low intensity (about five kilometers per hour). The body actively uses fats, 85 percent of which is taken from the bloodstream. With such an intensity of movement, the rate of entry of fatty acids into the blood is practically equal to the rate of their release from adipose tissues. When the maximum oxygen consumption reaches 65 percent, the fatty acids are oxidized at the fastest rate.
However, even this is not enough, which forces the body to use carbohydrates as an energy source. With a further increase in the intensity of physical activity, the body oxidizes fatty acids even less actively, and as a result, glycogen, which is located in muscle tissues, begins to be used. Today there is a lot of talk about the effectiveness of fasting training for weight loss. However, this is a controversial topic and scientists have not yet come to a consensus.
At the same time, the results of studies have shown that the consumption of carbohydrates before the start of the exercise not only increases the reserves of glycogen, but also allows you to accelerate the processes of mobilization of fatty acids. To do this, you need to consume carbohydrates with a low glycemic index. This is where maximum performance can be achieved.
Scientists associate this fact with less hyperglycemia, a decrease in the concentration of lactic acid in muscle tissues during exercise, as well as the body's ability to maintain sufficient levels of fatty acids and glucose in the blood. If you consume carbohydrates directly during the lesson, the results will be even better. But the use of medium-chain triaglycerols did not lead to any significant changes.
During running, fatty acids are oxidized much faster compared to cycling of the same intensity. It has been found that at 40 percent of the maximum oxygen consumption, the female body oxidizes fats much more efficiently than the male. However, with increasing physical activity, this difference is leveled. Also note that the rate of fatty acid oxidation increases during activities that combine high-intensity strength training and a cardio session.
Nutrient consumption for obesity
It is logical to assume that obesity may be a consequence of metabolic disorders. Scientists have actively studied this issue, because the problem of being overweight is now very relevant for all developed countries. Based on the results obtained, it can be stated that obesity disrupts not only the process of postprandial thermogenesis, but thermogenesis, which is activated under the influence of physical exertion.
Note that the energy consumption for the above processes is about 20 percent of the daily. However, at this point in time, there is no scientific confirmation of the fact that fat people consume less energy compared to thin people. As you can see, there are contradictions that scientists cannot explain yet. If we consider this issue from the point of view of energy imbalance, it is difficult to say why in such a situation obesity does not develop in every person.
There are research results that indicate an increase in body weight with an unchanged lifestyle and diet. Scientists cannot now explain the nature of obesity relapses. In order to somehow remove the contradictions that have arisen, the following hypotheses were put forward:
- The amount of energy consumed depends in part on its intake into the body.
- The accumulation and expenditure of energy is influenced not only by the amount of calories received and consumed, but the balance of nutrients (incoming and outgoing), especially fats and carbohydrates.
Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that scientists still have a lot to learn about the human body. In the meantime, we have to focus on the known facts, as well as the hypotheses put forward, until they are refuted.
More information about basic exchange and total energy consumption:
