Why That Skinny Friend NEVER Gains Weight Despite All the Fries

Find out how your genes affects the way your jeans fit; whether hot peppers and green tea will help you lose weight

Eat a lot and still stay skinny? Sounds neat! (Photo: iStock)

We all have that one friend who defies all laws of weight gain. The one who can down a cheese burst pizza with a glass of Coke, portion of fries without ever having to buy bigger pants on a monthly basis. Or the guy who can guzzle as many beers as he wants and still not grow a beer belly.

So did these people just get lucky in the genetic lottery? Or is there such a thing as an inherited fast metabolism? And if so, does that mean the less fortunate ones with an ordinary metabolism are doomed to lifelong weight struggles?

The answer is more complicated than a yes or a no.

But, yes, a person’s metabolism (fast or slow) is something they’re born with. It also implies that even though your metabolism is in your DNA, it can be changed.

What Does Metabolism Do?

It’s never as simple as calories in, calories out. (Photo: iStock)

Everyone’s metabolism is specifically unique to them like their fingerprint. But whether your metabolism determines your size and your ability to lose or gain weight is not so cut and dry.

“Fast” or “slow” metabolism is determined by metabolic rate, called basal metabolic rate or BMR, which is the amount of calories you burn while at rest.

Even though you’re at rest, the body is active, organs are working, cells are growing and dying, digestion is occurring and energy is being used. So, if your body needs fewer calories to get it’s jobs done, it’s going to store the extra calories and give you a slower metabolism, while someone with a high BMR will burn more calories while at rest.

But what’s burning the calories while the body is resting? Muscle and fat, though not equally. For every pound of muscle the body burns 35 calories a day, while for every pound of fat the body burns just two calories per day.

Since muscle burns more calories than fat, people with muscular bodies just naturally have a faster metabolism.(Photo: iStockphoto)

Increased muscles and muscle density will lead to the body burning more calories, which in turn will raise the BMR. Weight training is a surefire way to raise BMR. So even if slow metabolism is in your genes, you don’t have to live with it.

Unfortunately, certain genetic health problems can also have an effect on your metabolism. For example, hypothyroidism can cause decreased metabolism, whereas hyperthyroidism can cause increased metabolism.

Hot Peppers, Green Tea Will Boost Your Metabolism

Instead of obsessing over random specific foods that supposedly might increase your metabolism, you’d get more pay-off by just walking more.(Photo: iStock)

Unfortunately, green tea will only make your metabolism faster if you go to the mountains and pick it yourself. And hot peppers will only make your pee burn and not the fat.

What happens is that each time you have antioxidant-rich green tea, there will be a spike in your metabolism rate but this is temporary and won’t last more than half an hour. If you have four to five green teas a day, there might be an additional calorie loss but will not affect overall metabolism in a noticeable way.

So what can you eat to burn calories and jump-start your metabolism?

The short answer is “a balanced diet”.

So if your goal is fat loss, you should be eating foods with less carbohydrates, and if your goal is to grow and strengthen your muscles, you should make sure you’re getting enough protein.

Bottomline

Your sleep habits and stress levels have as much effect on your metabolism rate as does your diet and exercise routine. Being under-slept and over-stressed will lower your metabolism rate and you might gain a few kilos even if you are eating right.

The struggle for anyone with a slow metabolism never ends. So don’t compare yourself to others, eat healthy and take care of yourself.

There are a lot of reasons for why metabolism differs from one person to another. Check with your doctor if there are some hormonal imbalance indicators like thyroid.

And like I said, calories in, calories out doesn’t even begin to cover it.