With widely spread fad diets and special tricks to lose weight, there's a lot of misinformation tossed around about how your metabolism works and the kind of impact it has on your weight loss.

To help clear up the confusion, our nutrition experts have revealed the truth behind the top five metabolism myths.

Myth #1: It’s all about burning calories

Most think that metabolism is all about how quickly you burn calories. But that’s not the case solely. Metabolism involves two processes: 1. Catabolism, which is the breaking down of chemical bonds in your food to release energy in the form of calories. 2. Anabolism, it’s storage of energy for later use by the body. A rightly functioning metabolism balances both these functions which further helps in maintaining your body weight.

Myth #2: Skipping meals can reduce your metabolism

Weight loss is all about creating an energy dearth — ingesting fewer calories than what your body actually expends each day — but creating too much of calorie deficit always backfires. Severely limiting calories will make your body adapt to the restricted caloric intake, and use fewer calories to perform the same tasks. It can even lead to overeating, which will only add to weight gain.

Myth #3: You have no control over your metabolism.

Many people link faster metabolism to genetics, but health experts suggest that metabolism can be controlled by an individual, and made to work effectively. One easy way to ramp up your metabolism is to build more body muscle because muscles help burn fat faster. Consuming certain foods also help in speeding up your metabolism.

Myth #4: Metabolism slows down as you age

Aging does have an effect on your body functions, and metabolism is no different. However, it only makes it slower when you lead an inactive life. You should stick to your exercise routine, and add strength training to stoke metabolism.

Myth #5: Eating after 7 slows down your metabolism

It’s the extra calories – not when you eat them – that increase weight. You happen to lose weight by not eating after a certain time of day, only when you cut overall calorie consumption - not because you eat calories earlier in the day. Consuming all your calories before the sun goes down won’t speed up your weight loss unless you also eat fewer calories than you need.

Still have doubts? Speak to a nutrition expert at SlimSpa – call us on 04 343 7987 or book a consultation using the form below.