Even when you’re asleep, your metabolism helps the body carry out all the necessary functions that keep you alive – and it’s largely controlled by the food you eat, your hormones, and your mitochondria. While it may sound like your metabolism is something you have little control over, there are actually many ways you can support your metabolism to become more efficient in burning energy. Before we get into the actionable steps, let’s cover the basics.
Metabolic rate
Your metabolic rate can be divided into several important categories, and while it may seem that exercise is the only way to ‘burn' energy or calories - there's a lot more to it than that.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
The number of calories or energy you need at a minimum is referred to as your BMR. This number determines how much energy your body needs to function at baseline, and it makes up around 60-70% of the calories you expend. Your BMR is the energy your body requires to sustain all basic functions from cell production and circulation, to keeping your heart beating.
Resting metabolic rate (RMR)
Your RMR is the energy required to keep you alive while you’re at rest.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)
All of those ‘lighter’ activities you do on autopilot like household chores, typing and even fidgeting all come under the umbrella of NEAT – which accounts for up to 30% of your daily energy expenditure.
Thermic effect of food (TEF)
Some foods like protein are harder to digest and require more energy to do so. TEF is the amount of energy required to digest foods, and it accounts for up to 10% of your daily energy intake.
Thermic effect of exercise (TEE)
The amount of energy or calories burned from exercise alone – which you may be surprised to learn only accounts for around 10% of your daily energy expenditure.
From this quick summary, you can already see that you burn energy in so many different ways. And you may be relieved to know that exercise isn’t actually the most influential factor that determines how much energy you expend each day.
How mitochondria influence metabolism
You can think of mitochondria as the tiny (but powerful) energy batteries that live inside your cells, and as a crucial part of energy production – we need them functioning optimally to keep our metabolism running efficiently. Mitochondria are located at the site where your metabolism functions in the body. These tiny organelles that are found inside almost every one of our cells supply the body with an energy currency called ATP – which provides energy to the rest of the body.
As an integral part of our metabolism, mitochondria combine the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe, turning it into the fuel our cells need to work and live. This means that if mitochondrial function is low, the body may be less efficient at generating ATP as a result – which of course impacts your metabolism and the way the body utilizes and produces energy.