Metabology is the study of metabolism and it is a broad subject. Metabology is a subject that needs explored by all of us, especially those who want to blame their problems on genetics. Too many people blame their metabolism when those extra pounds pack on but what a crock that is.

The idea that a low metabolic rate is responsible for excess fat is just ridiculous. Granted, letting yourself become overweight does slow the metabolism and stress the thyroid but even if you do have a slower than normal metabolism, it doesn't mean you were born with it.

A client submitted the following questions one day and I answered the topics the best I saw fit. Enjoy.

Question About Metabology: What exactly is metabolism?

Don Lemmon: Metabolism is the rate at which your body breaks down food and uses the nutrients inside to produce energy. A "fast" metabolism implies you can go through this process more quickly than someone who has a "slow" metabolism. Some people believe metabolism defines how fast or slow you burn body fat.

Question About Metabology: What are the factors that determine metabolism?

Don Lemmon: Body composition is the primary factor that determines your BMR, or the number of calories your body burns at rest. According to research, the more total lean mass you have (meaning muscle, bones & organs versus fat), the higher your resting (or basal) metabolic rate will be. That explains why the average man has a higher metabolism than the average woman. Men have more muscle. Likewise, the BMR of a large woman is higher than that of a thin woman. Heredity is not as important as habits picked up by peers and family which throws hormones such as thyroid and insulin out of sync to dictate a slow metabolism. Consider your life today and factor in stress, calorie intake, exercise and medication cause they all play a rote.

Question About Metabology: So are we born with either a fast or a slow metabolism?

Don Lemmon: Yes and no. Studies of identical twins suggest that your baseline metabolism is determined at birth. But twins separated at birth, raised by different families with different eating habits, seem to have different metabolisms. If you have a naturally slow metabolism, weight gain is inevitable if you eat poorly. And though it may seem harder for you to shed body fat, it's nearly always possible. You may never burn calories as rapidly as, say, an active person who always has eaten well, but you can raise your BMR to a certain extent by introducing exercise, building lean muscle and changing the way you eat.

Question About Metabology: When I was younger, I could eat whatever I wanted. But over the years, my metabolism seems to have slowed. What's happened?

Don Lemmon: If you can't eat as much as you used to without literally seeing the fat or scale increase, exercise is probably the culprit but be honest, how much abuse can your body take at the dining table? After age 30, the average BMR decreases at a rate of 3% per decade, mainly due to muscle loss and inactivity. Fortunately, that can be controlled if you refuse to eat things that anyone can commonly admit they know sticks to the stomach or hips.

Question About Metabology: Is it true that you can damage your metabolism by dieting?

Don Lemmon: There's no conclusive evidence that dieting does harm to your metabolism but gaining weight and losing weight, back and forth, over and over, confuses the body. Bodybuilders are famous for dieting down every last ounce of bodyfat only to regain it all by gorging over just a couple of days.

Question About Metabology: What are the best workouts for raising my metabolism?

Don Lemmon: Experts agree that weight training is the most effective way to build and preserve lean muscle, and most agree that each pound of muscle can raise your BMR 10 to 20 calories per day. However, no matter how much faster the metabolism becomes, sometimes exercise and diet just isn't enough. As far as cardiovascular exercise goes, a high-intensity workout that raises your heart rate is all the rage but it doesn't have a permanent effect on your BMR. A cardio workout will boost your metabolism only during the movement, depending on intensity. After your workout, your metabolism will return to its resting level within 30 minutes. But with weight lifting, you'll continue burning extra calories in your sleep. Again, that isn't always enough.

Question About Metabology: Can spicy foods, such as chili peppers and curry, boost my metabolism?

Don Lemmon: Yes, but unfortunately not enough to have an effect on weight loss and over time, it just might rot the lining of your small intestines which are where nutrients get absorbed during digestion. Certainly, it seems that anything which increases your body temperature will temporarily raise your metabolic rate to a certain degree, but there is a difference in the increase of thermogenesis found using the Metabolic Prescription and something eating away at your gut.

Question About Metabology: What about supplements and other products that promise to elevate metabolism, put off hunger and burn body fat?

Don Lemmon: No pill, patch or potion to date can magically raise your metabolism or do anything like what our Metabolic Prescription offers.

Question About Metabology: Can certain medications slow my metabolism?

Don Lemmon: Some drugs, like those used to treat depression and bipolar disorder, have been shown to lower metabolism. Birth control pills, blood pressure meds, drugs used for STD's and even migraines all slow the metabolism, making way for why you need a boost if prescribed such pharmaceuticals.

Question About Metabology: How do I determine the amount of calories to eat each day?

Don Lemmon: The easiest method is to determine what your lean body mass weight is. Say for instance, I weigh 200 pounds and 180 of it is lean mass. 200 minus 180 is 20 or twenty pounds of fat that I carry. 20 divided by 200 is .10 or 10% body fat that I possess. To determine my caloric intake, I would divide my lean mass, 180, by 10, which is 18. I would then multiply 18 by 180 (my lean mass) and get a figure of 3240. That would be my daily caloric intake. To see how many calories I should have per meal, knowing 6 meals is best for speeding the metabolism, I would divide 3240 by 6 and get 540 calories per feeding. To be sure my meals were enough to boost the metabolism, I would take 1 capsule of Metabolic Prescription per feeding. Well, that is my calculation. Yours would be based upon whatever you weigh versus fat carried.