JARGON BUSTER

SCIENTIFIC terms decoded. This week: metabolism COMMONLY used to describe how quickly we digest food, metabolism actually covers a vast number of chemical reactions constantly occurring in the body.

These fall broadly into two main types. The first is catabolism, where larger substances such as food are broken down, releasing energy. With the second, anabolism, smaller substances (such as nutrients in food) combine to form other substances, using up energy.

Doctors use the phrase ‘basal metabolic rate’ (BMR) to refer to the lowest base level of energy needed for these constant chemical reactions to take place, but we commonly refer to this as metabolism.

The speed of metabolism depends on age, gender, genes and weight — younger people, men and those with more muscle tend to have faster rates. But there is no evidence that a slow metabolism is a reason for weight gain.