Can Exercise Actually "Boost" Your Metabolism? | Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter | TED

We often hear that exercise can help with weight loss

翻译人员: Joy Hong 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

我们经常会听说 运动可以通过加速或

by speeding up or boosting our metabolism.

促进新陈代谢 帮助我们减重。

So is it true?

这是真的吗？

Can we use exercise to control our metabolism?

我们可以通过锻炼来 控制我们的新陈代谢吗？

[Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter]

[简·冈特（Jen Gunter）医生的 Body Stuff 栏目]

To answer that question,

要回答这个问题，

we have to first dig deeper into what metabolism is.

我们得先弄清楚 什么是新陈代谢。

No surprise, metabolism is really complex,

毫无疑问， 新陈代谢是非常复杂的，

and scientists and researchers are still discovering many new things about it.

科学家和研究者仍在 探索新陈代谢的新知识。

简单来说，

Very simply,

新陈代谢是发生在我们身体 每一个细胞中的化学反应，

metabolism is the set of chemical reactions in every cell of our body

that harnesses energy to keep us alive.

这个过程产生能量， 让我们维持生命力。

So much of what happens in our bodies is metabolism,

新陈代谢源源不断地 发生在我们的身体中，

making new cells is metabolism, growing hair is metabolism,

产生新细胞属于新陈代谢， 长头发属于新陈代谢，

and converting food into energy is metabolism.

把食物转化为能量 也属于新陈代谢。

The sum total energy of all the metabolic processes

身体中新陈代谢产生的总能量

that occur throughout our body is measured in calories.

可以用卡路里来衡量。

And surprisingly,

令人惊讶的是，

exercise is usually a small percentage of our daily calorie burn.

运动只占我们每日 卡路里消耗量的一小部分。

Unless you're a professional athlete,

除非你是一位专业的运动员，

most of our calorie expenditure is accounted for

我们大部分的卡路里消耗

by our basal metabolic rate.

都由我们基础代谢率决定。

All the vital stuff we need to function, like having a heartbeat, growing hair,

身体运作的所有关键机能， 比如心脏跳动、长头发、

building cells and even blinking.

产生细胞甚至是眨眼。

That stuff takes up a big chunk of our energy.

这些机能消耗了一大部分能量。

So can we hack this equation in some way?

我们能想办法破解这个等式吗？

Can we use exercise to speed up our metabolism

我们可以通过运动来 加速我们的新陈代谢，

so we burn more energy?

这样我们能燃烧更多能量吗？

Can we burn even more calories?

我们能消耗更多卡路里吗？

Not just doing burpees,

不只是做波比跳，

but while we're growing an eyelash, than before?

还有比以前多长一根眼睫毛？

The answer is no.

答案是不能。

First of all,

首先，

this is a misunderstanding of what fast versus slow metabolism really indicates.

这是对新陈代谢快慢的 意义的误解。

There's no clear link between thinner people and fast metabolism,

苗条的人和快速新陈代谢 没有明确的关联，

and the same goes for larger people and slow metabolism.

对体胖的人也是同样的道理。

In fact, if you look at the absolute numbers,

事实，如果你只看绝对数，

people with larger bodies have faster metabolisms,

体胖的人有更快的新陈代谢率，

meaning they burn more calories because larger bodies have more cells,

意味着他们燃烧了更多卡路里， 因为胖的身体有更多细胞，

which in turn are doing more to sustain the body.

所以需要更多代谢 来维持身体运转。

Now, differences in metabolism between people with similar body sizes do exist,

虽然体型相似的人之间 确实会存在新陈代谢的差异，

but the difference between fast metabolism and slow metabolism

但新陈代谢快和 新陈代谢慢的差异

can be about 300 calories.

大约是 300 卡路里。

That’s like two apples and a banana.

相当于两个苹果和一根香蕉。

How fast our metabolism works is mostly genetic

我们新陈代谢的速度 主要是遗传的，

and related to body size, but there's also age.

还与体型、年龄相关。

Our metabolic rate changes a few times over our lifespan.

我们的新陈代谢率 会在我们的一生中改变多次。

We start with the metabolic rate of an infant.

从婴儿开始的新陈代谢率，

Then there is a switch when we are toddlers,

到学童会发生一次转变，

and then it’s pretty stable during adulthood to age 60,

从成年到 60 岁是比较稳定的，

when it changes again.

然后再次发生改变。

Researchers evaluated the Hadza,

研究人员评估了 哈扎人（Hadza），

a group of people in Tanzania

一群生活在坦桑尼亚的人，

who live a traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle.

过着传统的捕猎群居生活。

And yet, when you control for body size and age,

然而，如果控制体型和 年龄这两个变量，

they burn a similar amount of calories a day

他们每天燃烧的卡路里量

as an average American adult.

与一个普通美国成年人相当。

It seems that calories out is a pretty fixed number,

这样看卡路里似乎是一个 相对固定的数，

and it appears that our bodies have limits.

我们的身体是有极限的。

If we exercise harder, at first we may expend more energy,

如果我们更加努力地锻炼， 一开始我们可能会消耗更多的能量，

but over time,

但是一段时间以后，

our metabolism will find ways to conserve.

我们的代谢会达到一个平衡点。

Here's what I'm getting at.

要说到我要强调的一点了。

The point of our metabolic system is to manage energy,

我们的新陈代谢是为了控制能量，

not to manage weight.

而不是控制体重。

So if you read an article

所以，如果你读到一篇文章

or hear a so-called expert inviting you to boost your metabolism,

或是听到专家邀请你去 促进你的新陈代谢，

remember that’s just marketing speak rooted in a weight loss culture.

记住，这只是扎根于减肥文化的 营销之词。

And it just isn’t true.

它不是真的。