In my last post I talked about why muscle increases metabolism for women over 40 . . . well, muscle increases metabolism for everyone – but it’s SUPER helpful for peri / post menopausal women who are losing muscle at a crazy fast rate due to decreasing estrogen!
In that post, I mentioned that muscle is “metabolically active”. When we say that muscle is “metabolically active,” it means that muscle tissue plays a significant role in your body’s metabolism or the processes that your body uses to convert food into energy and carry out various functions.
Here’s why muscle is metabolically active:
- Energy Expenditure: Muscles require a lot of energy to function, even at rest. You burn calories to sustain it. This is why having more muscle mass can increase your resting metabolic rate, helping you burn more calories throughout the day.
- Glucose Regulation: Muscles are involved in regulating blood sugar levels. When you use your muscles during physical activity, they take up glucose from the bloodstream to provide energy. This helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. Muscle is considered a glucose sink!!
- Insulin Sensitivity: Having more muscle can improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin, which is crucial for managing blood sugar levels. Insulin helps transport glucose into cells, and muscle cells are a major site for this process. Women in perimenopause and menopause can become more insulin resistant so it’s essential to have muscle on your body to help process the glucose and maintain your insulin sensitivity!
- Fat Metabolism: Muscle tissue is also involved in breaking down and utilizing fats for energy. It can help with fat loss and maintaining a healthy body composition.
- Post-Exercise Calorie Burn: After a workout, your muscles continue to burn calories during the recovery and repair process. This is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) or the “afterburn.”
So, in a nutshell, muscle tissue is metabolically active because it not only consumes energy but also plays a role in regulating various metabolic processes within the body.
This is one reason why building and maintaining muscle can be essential for overall health and weight management for peri-menopausal and menopausal women. 😊
