When on a diet, it’s useful to understand the role of metabolism in your weight loss journey. If you’re blessed with a fast metabolism, good for you! However, a slow metabolism can seriously impede your progress, and that can be quite frustrating.
In this article, we'll delve into six key indicators of a sluggish metabolism, exploring the scientific aspects behind each sign.
1. Persistent fatigue:
One of the most obvious signs of a slow metabolism is being constantly tired, sluggish and low on energy. From a scientific perspective, this can be attributed to a decrease in the basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your BMR represents the energy that your body requires to maintain essential functions while at rest. When your metabolism is sluggish, your body's energy conversion process becomes less efficient, leaving you feeling fatigued all day, even when you're not physically active.
2. Weight gain or difficulty losing weight:
Well, that’s the whole point isn’t it? Obviously one of the most frustrating signs is seeing the numbers on the scale plateau, or even increase despite actively dieting. That’s directly linked to the previous point: since your body’s calorie burning process isn’t working efficiently, the excess energy you eat but don’t burn gets stored as fat.
This can get worse with age, unfortunately. Genetics and lifestyle also plays a role.
3. Digestive issues:
Another tell-tale sign is rough digestion.. When your metabolism is sluggish, it can slow down the movement of food through your digestive tract. In that case, you usually feel bloated and uncomfortable, maybe with difficulty going to the bathroom. You can try to eat easily digestible foods to try to boost your metabolism back.
4. Cold sensitivity:
Are you often chilly, even when it’s supposedly warm outside? That’s another sign that your metabolism might be a bit lazy. When your metabolism works properly, your body naturally generates heat as a byproduct of burning calories. When your metabolism slows down, less heat is produced by your digestion which leads to you feeling colder than you should. The same thing happens when you’re hungry: since you’re not burning energy, no heat is being produced.