Metabolism – What is BMR? Importance of BMR & How can we increase our BMR?

What is the Energy ?
Energy is the capacity to do the work or ability to perform the activities.
Energy is needed for mainly four different types of activities
1.Physical activity like waking sleeping etc.
2.Growth which involves synthesis of new compounds that are incorporated in new tissues.
3.Internal work like work of Digestive System ,Circulatory System ,Respiratory System and Excretory System
4.Energy is also needed for maintaining the body temperature.

All these functions are very important and necessary for survival Energy is Measured in terms of calories or kilo calories.

What is Basal Metabolism ?BMR?

The energy required to maintain the basal metabolism that is the basic essential metabolic process required to keep the body alive and healthy and where applicable growing at an appropriate rate.The basal metabolic energy need includes energy needed to maintain the required Nervous activity, Ventilate the lungs, Keep the heart pumping to circulate the blood, Maintain minimum level of Protein synthesis , Hormone Production , Glandular Secretion Nutrient Uptake and Waste Excretion and generally keep the internal environment of body including all it cells in the functioning biochemical condition. Basel metabolic  rate includes a certain amount of energy needed to maintain muscle tone.
No matter how motionless and relaxed a person is his or her muscles are still maintained in slightly contracted state without this muscle tone the body would become floppy mass.  Energy required to sustain basal metabolism is also known as basal metabolic rate that is BMR.

BMR ( Basal Metabolic Rate)

Your BMR or  Basal Metabolic rate is the rate at which your body while resting breaks down food and converts it into energy to keep your heart beating, your body temperature stable and your vital organ functioning efficiently.
your BMR is calculated by a complicated formula which includes among the various other factors your height, weight age and gender.
the Higher BMR the better.The BMR of above 2800 is considered excellent.
Do you have control over your BMR ? The answer is YES .The food you eat and the amount of physical activity have an impact on your BMR.
However there are some factors beyond your control that affect your BMR such as as the older you are the lower your BMR, the Gender – men burn more energy as their bodies have more muscle and less fat.

Symptoms of Low BMR
If you don’t know what your BMR is you can still tell if your bmr is performing at the optimum levels . A poor metabolism or low bmr affects the overall functioning of the body and shows up in various symptoms. you can check your BMR by ticking  the symptoms given below if you tick five or more of them you are having low BMR.
Muscle cramps
Constant tiredness and fatigue
Lethargy lack of energy
Hyper acidity
Gradual weight gain
Frequent body ache or headaches
Excessive hunger
Poor appetite
Frequent bouts of depression or irritability
Bloating of the stomach

Menopause, Poor thyroid functions  or hormonal disorders are some of the reasons which make your BMR low and which require the attention of the physician. but there are other reasons which may be within your control such as
1.Skipping meals  or crash dieting.
when you miss a meal or go on a crash diet your metabolism far from burning up calories to provide energy actually slows down to conserve the energy as it is not sure when you will provide the next influx of energy.even when you starve you often end up overeating at your next meal .This will result in putting on more weight instead of losing weight .
Solution for this is you have to eat small and frequent meals.

2. Over eating if you over at your body goes into overdrive storing all the excess energy which you have provided and have not gone through exercise or activity the more part stored the slower your bmr .
solution for this is it frequent smaller and high fibre meals so that your metabolism regulates itself to cope with the intake of good energy.

3.Inadequate exercise
when you consume more food energy in the form of carbohydrates, sugar or fat than you go through the activity or exercise your metabolism gets overloaded and slows down.
solution for this is exercise and do the activity is more which will help to burn the excess energy that your body consumes.

4. BMI ( Body Mass Index )
If your body is composed of more fat than muscle your metabolism will slow down as the body fat requires more energy to burn than muscle.
solution for this is exercised regularly eat low fat , high protein and high fiber meals which will increase your bmr.
5. Stress-
Stress has direct impact on your metabolism as it directly impact the digestive system. your stomach produces more acid in times of stress . For some of us in that situation one way of soothing our nerves is to eat.
Solution for this is pour yourself a warm glass of skimmed milk which works wonders particularly just before you go to bed .Enroll for yoga stress management programs or take up stress reducing activities like music, art ,gardening etc .

6. Dehydration
Inadequate amount of water are known to slow down the bmr as water is essential for the metabolic process.solution for this is drink three to four litters of water plus other beverages such as green tea ,water vegetable juices ,lime water buttermilk or coconut water and keep your metabolism juiced up.

Which foods boost your BMR ?
Regular exercise and appropriate food choices are the solution to increase the BMR some such foods are : 

1.Whole grains like wheat brand, rice ,oats, millets like jowar, ragi ,jowar etc increase the bmr rate.
2.legumes and pulses like chick peas, green gram, lentils beans etc also increases the bmr
3.nuts and seeds like wild almonds, flax seeds, etc increases the bmr
4.fruits which increases the bmr or amla , papaya, lemon, apple, orange, limes.
5.vegetables such as bottle gourd, cluster beans, capsicum ,green tomato, bitter gourd like karela.
6.Herbs,  spices like coriander, ginger, also increase the bmr.
7.we ever dress like water green tea shyamala water raw vegetable juices increases the bmr.
8.animal products like egg white face chicken skimmed milk butter milk yogurt increases the bmr.

How to boost your BMR ?
Eat right food ,eat small meals five to six small meals a day ,drink three to four litters of water ,exercise daily like yoga ,pranayam walk .take adequate sleep approximate seven hours a  day. do meditation. All these activities will boost your BMR