Metabolism is fundamentally the amount of energy burned by a person's body when .
Each person's metabolism will be different as each person's body .
Composition is different. Metabolism, wither it be high or low, is determined in part by the relationship of .
fat content to muscle content in any one person. A person with a higher percentage of muscle and a lower .
percentage of fat will burn more energy or have a higher metabolism then a person that is less muscular .
with a higher percentage of fat. However, body composition is not the only variable that can determine an .
Individuals metabolic rate (What is Metabolism and Why is it Important? [WMWI], 2002, p.1 of 3).
Some other factors, such as smoking, exercise, and diet will combine to have an effect on how .
each person's metabolism works. These variables do however have their own their own individual affects .
on the body and thus can singularly change a person's metabolism. I will focus on the smoking factor, along .
with exercise and diet, and how each of these can alter a person's energy output to determine a higher or .
lower metabolism.
Smoking Effects.
It is common knowledge in today's professional and social societies that smoking is not good for .
the human body. Smoking causes more deaths on its own than a combination of fatal automobile accidents, .
murders, abuse of narcotics and AIDS. This statistic may be a main cause for people who do smoke to .
make the decision to quit. Many people who quit the habit may notice a considerable addition to their .
body mass (How Smoking Affects Metabolism [HSAM], 1998-2001, p 1 of 2). It is agreed that peoples who .
have stopped smoking will experience a gain in their weight of less then ten pounds or on average a gain of .
seven to nine pounds (HSAM 1998-2001, p 1 of 2 ; It's Time to Quit Smoking [ITQS], 2002, p 2 of 2). .
The reason for this increase in weight is because of a change in the smoker's metabolic rate.