Do Skinny People Have Faster Metabolisms? Not Really

(CNN) — It might seem counterintuitive, but generally speaking, skinny people don’t have faster metabolisms than people who weigh more. In fact, the bigger your body, the more calories you burn. Basal (or resting) metabolism refers to the total number of calories all the cells in the body need to stay alive and functioning. “Your resting metabolic rate is typically described as the total number of calories your body needs while at rest. This is made up of basic functions like supporting your vital organs, muscle and fat tissue and the energy that is required to break down food we eat,” said Martin Binks, director of the Nutrition & Metabolic Health Initiative at Texas Tech University. “Your total calorie requirement includes these plus what’s needed to move around,” he added. “Therefore, by nature of having more mass, a larger person burns more calories.” Melissa Majumdar, registered dietitian, personal trainer and senior bariatric dietitian at Brigham and Women’s Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, put it this way: “If we kept two people still in a bed with different body weights, the heavier person will burn more.” This biological reality also explains why, after you lose an initial amount of weight — say 10 or 20 pounds — it’s harder to continue losing weight. At a lower body weight, you burn fewer calories, and so the amount of energy, or calories, you once required decre...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News CNN metabolism Source Type: news