All My Labs Are Normal, But I Am Still Gaining Weight? Why?
Dr. Renita Brown is a family practitioner practicing in Gadsden, AL. Dr. Brown specializes in comprehensive health care for people of all ages. She practices PCP/Urgent Care and in her Medi-Spa of Gadsden doing Botox, Fillers, Microneedling and BB Skin Glow Treatments. Dr. Brown is one of the first physicians in Alabama... more
Question All my labs are normal but I am still gaining weight? Why?
Answer:
Metabolism is the process by which our body converts what you eat and drink into energy. A person’s metabolism is multi-factorial.
White Fat vs Brown Fat: Brown fat burns calories where white fat stores calories. Problems can arise if you have too much white fat. Researchers found that since central heating became common in the 1960s, average room temperatures have increased steadily in both the US and the UK. In both countries, obesity has also soared. When we don’t use our brown fat to warm us, we lose it, along with its calorie-burning potential. In other words, a cooler environment increases brown fat.
Age: As we age, our metabolism slows down. After the age of 30, our metabolism decreases about one to two percent per year.
Body size, gender and composition: Athletic and muscular people burn more calories, even when they are resting. Men tend to have a lower body fat percentage and higher muscle mass than women
Hormonal imbalance: The lack of estrogen in women and the amount of testosterone in both men and women can change the muscle/fat ratio. Testosterone is a sex hormone that helps increase muscle mass and decrease fat mass.
Poor Nutrition/Crash Diets and Inactivity: Lack of physical activity can cause fat gain and slow our metabolism. Patients who tend to eat food high in refined sugars or saturated fat, or those on a very restrictive caloric diet tend to have a slower metabolism.
Stress: Emotional stress causes your level of the hormone cortisol to rise, which can harm your metabolism.
Insomnia: Individuals who are having accumulative sleep deprivation may be affecting their metabolism.
Medications: The metabolic rate can be affected by some medications, which would cause them to either increase or decrease in weight.
Chronic diseases and genetics: Any underlying disease or medical condition in the body can affect tissues throughout your body and thus lead to changes in the metabolic rate. Studies have shown that the higher blood sugar levels may actually fool the body into believing there’s lots of energy around, resulting in a slower metabolism
Consult your physician to investigate your individual cause.
