Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

It is the daily minimum energy or calorie level when your body is at rest (including sleep) to work effectively. It is the sum of the amount of energy required for significant vital actions such as nerve functions, brain functions, cell renewal and growth, body temperature control, blood circulation, and breathing. The basic metabolic rate is 65-75% of the daily calorie consumption, and the remaining 25-35% is the daily physical activity.

Your BMR measurement can be used as the minimum basis for a diet program. Additional calories can be added depending on your activity level. The more active you are, youburn more calories and you build more muscle, so you need to make sure you consume enough calories to keep your body fit and healthy.

Increasing your muscle mass helps increase your BMR, which increases the number of calories you burn and helps reduce body fat levels. A person with a high BMR burns more calories than low BMR while resting.

Factors affecting basal metabolic rate:

• Metabolic rate slows down as age progresses, as the rate of muscle decreases in the body. Especially after the age of 40, a decline occurs between 2% and 5% every ten years.
• 80% of the basal metabolic rate difference between individuals is due to the difference in lean mass ratio. As the ratio of lean mass of the body to fat mass increases, the basal metabolic rate also increases.
• During pregnancy, a 22-33% increase in basal metabolic rate is observed.
• When the body is starving, the basal metabolic rate decreases. For example, in shock diets below 1000 calories per day, the body slows down all its systems for survival and tends to conserve existing energy.
• While in sleep, the basal metabolic rate decreases. The speed measured during sleep is 10% lower than measured while awake.
• When the endocrine glands do not produce a sufficient thyroid hormone, the basal metabolic rate may decrease by 30-50%, while it may double if normal.
• As people age, their metabolic rate changes. As a child matures and reaches its peak, basal metabolism increases around the age of 16 or 17, then typically begins to decline. A slow BMR will make it difficult to lose body fat and total weight.