What is your metabolism? This is a question I’ve wondered about many of my patients for years but I have not had a way to measure it until now. I have had many patients tell me that their metabolism is slow because they do not eat very much but still either gain weight or cannot lose weight. I have had other patients tell me they have a very high metabolism because they eat whatever they want and they never gain weight.

Now we have a way of directly measuring your metabolism. It is called an indirect calorimeter and specifically I have bought an FDA approved version of this called the KORR ReeVue. It’s very simple: when we metabolize food it turns into waste, water, and carbon dioxide. We get rid of the carbon dioxide by breathing. Every time we breathe out we release the carbon dioxide. This machine uses a mouthpiece, similar to a nebulizer, that you breathe into for 10 minutes and it measures your carbon dioxide output in a mixing chamber. Your only requirements are to fast that morning, do not drink caffeine, and do not exercise that morning. We will then place you in a chair where you will sit and breathe for 10 minutes. A detailed report is printed out immediately for you to take home.

Metabolism is actually called basal metabolic rate. This allows us to give you a concrete number of how many calories you burn in a day when resting. We can then tailor a diet plan to your specific caloric needs.

You may be wondering how you can increase your metabolism. For the most part, the only way to increase your metabolism is by increasing lean muscle mass. This means building muscle or maintaining muscle as we lose fat tissue (adipose tissue). How can we do this? Well there are a few ways. Most obviously we can increase exercise to increase muscle mass. There are other ways with dietary changes that we can increase muscle mass. Getting 2.4 grams of Leucine a day also stimulates a pathway that leads to muscle growth. It is very important to maintain muscle mass while losing fat tissue. How do we intake that much Leucine? My general recommendation to patients is to take in four palm size servings of lean meat a day (90 grams per day) but you can also accomplish this without eating meat. Below is a chart of typical Leucine values in foods. This chart also explains why eating this much Leucine leads to increases in muscle mass which then also leads to increases in metabolism.

There are other ways to alter your metabolism or trick your metabolism but that talk will be for another day. At the bottom I will also link a brochure that explains our new indirect calorimeter that can measure your metabolism. Give us a call to set up an appointment to measure your metabolism ($69) or if you would like to become a patient please reach out. You can fill out or contact form below and we will contact you during business hours.

Seth Jarrell, MD