To maintain a healthy weight is sufficient to do some exercise and enjoy a varied diet. However, in advanced societies it is increasingly common to confuse quantity and quality by generating many food disorders.
Growing health concerns and a lack of nutrition training among the population mean that marketing campaigns for healthy diets and weight-loss diets are becoming more and more constant. For this reason we introduce some general concepts for those interested in these issues and the functioning of their own body,
What factors are involved in a person's total caloric expenditure?
Three fundamental components:
- Physical activity
- Thermogenesis of food (the calories from the food we eat)
- The metabolic expenditure at rest or basal metabolism (which can be ascertained through an indirect calorimetry test).
The factor that can be modified more easily is physical activity. So when we want to lose weight we act on this factor simply by increasing our physical activity (walking, gymnastics, sports, etc.).
If we add the energy expenditure at rest with the physical activity performed by a person, we have the total energy expenditure. The total energy expenditure is what is finally considered to fit the specific diet plan for each patient.
When we diet to lose weight, we are acting on the thermogenesis of the food we eat. If we want to moderate the resulting thermogenesis so that the total sum of energy consumption is lower during this period, we include in the diet low calorie foods like vegetables or vegetables that although they have a high satiating effect are low in calories.
What is basal metabolism?
They are the energy consumption or calories that each person spends at rest and are not equal in all individuals. The knowledge of the basal metabolism guides and allows to calculate the daily energetic needs of each person with the purpose of instituting a dietary treatment adapted to its specific characteristics.
Measurement of basal metabolism. Indirect calorimetry test.
Indirect calorimetry is a test that allows to accurately measure the caloric expenditure at rest of a person. Energy expenditure is the energy the body needs to maintain its weight and perform the necessary functions throughout the day. In addition, indirect calorimetry measures the nutritional needs of each person. Thus we can find out if a patient has a slow or rapid metabolism: this will indicate the nutritional contribution he needs.
Often when a person takes months, or even years, trying to regulate their weight this test can give us the solution to this problem.
What exactly does it measure? The oxygen consumption and the production of carbon dioxide
The expense of energy produces a gas exchange. To waste the calories that nutrients provide, the body consumes oxygen and "burns" it produces carbon dioxide. Indirect calorimetry is, therefore, a spirometry in which oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production are measured sequentially.
When is this test indicated?
In case of overweight, obesity and morbid obesity.
Your own caloric equation. Know your basal metastatic rate (BMR)
To maintain a healthy weight is sufficient to do some exercise and enjoy a varied diet. If however you are interested in knowing your basal metabolism, you can do two things:
- Consult the standard tables of basal metabolic rates in males and females of different ages
- Go to a physiological analysis laboratory where you have a test to measure your basal metabolism
Knowing the basal metabolism is not useful if you do not use it to build and act on your own caloric equation in which we remind you that there are three equally important ingredients or factors to control: basal metabolism at rest, food and physical activity. The factors on which you can act are physical activity and secondly the caloric level of food.
Nutritional information and tables of rates of basal metabolism. World Health Organization.
Remember to always incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into your daily diet