Metabolism Thread

[GTR-N1]

This area is not my greatest strength.

All that I'm familiar with is thyroid function testing to some extent...

but I can't read a liver function test to save myself.

Can someone here explain it?

I've seen some good results from acupuncture or herbs or bowen therapy, but I don't know much about lymph drainage/cleansing.

I'm also familiar with how much cardio is required to kick the BMR (basal metabolic rate) into play, but I don't how weights can extend the BMR timeline. I'd find that part interesting.

Discuss?

[NickR33]

all I know is the more muscle you put on the more energy it needs to function which effectively causes your metabolism to be increased... cardio only really increases your metabolism whilst your doing it and for a short time after... but muscle mass uses energy even when your at rest

that's why resistance training is so important when your looking to lose weight (and by weight I mean fat)... aerobic exercise and low calorie diets will help you shed weight but a lot of that weight will be muscle... and on low calorie diets your body goes into starvation mode and metabolism decreases... so as soon as you go off the diet your body puts fat back on where the muscle used to be at a greater rate due to the slowing of your metabolism

I'm no expert but that's my basic understanding of resistance training and aerobic (cardio) and their relationship to metabolism

[GTR-N1]

If you're trying to lose weight and you're doing everything right...

like...

* eating correctly with regard to 5 food groups + being regular + not picking/bingeing

* being active regularly

but...

your weight is stuck on these inordinately long plateaus

and...

* your skin is dry

* hair loses lustre easily

* have an intolerance to extremes of temperature

* suffer generalised fatigue

(say 3 of the 4 above)...

your thyroxine levels are probably running low

so...

your metabolism is sluggish

which means...

you can take the amino acid called "l-Tyrosine" to support your thyroxine levels

but how much?...

Ummm... I don't know unless...

but a thyroid function test would help!

[xALmoN]

So, those with hypo-thyroidism, should be taking some i-Tyrosine?

[GTR-N1]

^ ^ ^ Yes they can find it helps a great deal, especially over a timeline of 2 months or more when skin is more moist, hair tone and energy is better + weight comes off more easily if one was overweight due to this.

[xALmoN]

prescription only or, is it otc?

[Husky33]

over the counter mate.

Musashi make seperate amino acids and carry l-tyrosine. THere are also a few good practioner companies such as bioceuticals etc that carry

tyrosine in their thyroid products

[Johnny]

Hey Tez, T3 and T4 (triiodothyronine and tetraiodothyronine) are formed in the thyroid gland from L-Tyrosine and iodine so those supplements are the best way to start.

If you have a disorder with your thyroid gland which has trouble synthesising the hormone, you may get a goiter or enlarged thyroid as the brain will release a thyroid proliferating hormone to increase the size of the thyroid (similar to kidney hypertrophy or cardiac hypertrophy in compensation to say kidney donation or steroid use/valve regurgitation/stenosis)

A blood test can check for the hormone levels and go from there

liver function tests will look for free liver enzymes in the blood, let free from dying hepatocytes; an easy check for that is liver palpation under the right bottom ribs, systemic pruritis (itch) or a faint yellow tinge in the skin, eyes or fingernails from excess bilirubin

[Melly]

You're correct nickr33 And in regards to the cardio/resistance training - resistance training helps increase lean muscle mass which in turn increases the metabolism (muscle uses more energy) and also keeps it going after exercise longer as muscles take longer to recover from a session therefore the body keeps working for longer. Cardio is a great way to the the metabolism firing but the body also recovers quicker therefore the metabolism isn't firing for as long. For weight loss it is important to have a combination of both cardio and resistance training in your program as well as the 5 veg, 2 fruit, carbs and protein daily (carbs and protein are important fuels for aerobic training) and remember not to overeat as well as aim for 1l water per 25kg of body weight plus 1l per 1hr of exercise :-) not drinking enough actually increases fluid retention which is a pain in the ass especially when trying to loose weight.

[Mangune]

Is there a product or supplement to get it higher? I've heard of people taking stuff to body the meta up along with exercise and decent diet to loose weight. True?

[Melly]

Arguable, some say things like green tea, chilli and those metabolift pills peak the mrtabolism but there isn't enough evidence to definatively say yes and even then it isn't a permanent effect, more like a placebo, people think it works so they train harder. Best is eat well, build lean muscle and increased metabolism will come with it. Plus you don't want to be relying on supliments forever. I'll do some more research and give you more details ill also ask the opinions of some of my lecturers and other trainers.

[Mangune]

Yer its true dont want to be stuck on suppliments. Yer i would be intresting if there was a pill or something to boost your meta system to aid weight loss with diet and exercise. When you get to the aim of your goal, wouldnt you meta be at a stable place to give ujp the suppliment providing you continue the exercise and diet. hmm hehe

Cheers

[Melly]

Best way to do it is not waste the money on "diet pills" they aren't going to make spot reduction possible, they all say you still need diet and exerise programs if there was a fast simple solution to weight loss (other than don't put it on) than we wouldn't have the issues we do with obesity the thing is you are increasing your metabolism whilst doing the exercise and then trying to "boost" it with the pills which if they actually worked your body would still be used to the increased levels and when you stop them it drops back to a level it isn't used to because of the "boosting".

I was involved with a study at the ais on diet pills and the placebo effect, were all given exercise programs, nutritional coaching and a pt and either a placebo supplement or an actual diet pill and none of the pills proved to make any measurable difference in weight loss.

If you are after weight loss do mixed programs, eat well (including not over eating), drink plenty of water and make sure you recover properly between session (called super compensation process) so that you can keep improving your performance and pushing your body, warm up and cool down properly (including stretching) to aid with recovery and decrease the chance of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and in turn you will feel happier, healthier, your metabolism will increase and you will loose the weight, change your program every 6-8 weeks so your body keeps being challenged.

I could go onto the science behind exercise but that gets boring for most people lol

[Mangune]

Wow that's some info you know and got there

Good read thanks for that info

[Melly]

Cheers, I've done my cert 3 & 4 in fitness and currently half way through my sports coaching and exercise science degree combined with human nutrition. I love this stuff