Vol.70; 718–720. Knowing REE can help someone maintain their weight, especially when that person undergoes some sort of lifestyle change, such as those resulting from injury or disease states. When your metabolism slows, you burn fewer calories — even at rest. There are a number of ways to estimate a person's metabolic rate, which directly impacts resting energy expenditure, but it is very difficult to get a completely accurate measure of someone's REE without the use of expensive equipment. The solution is to increase your physical activity, because doing so will counteract the metabolic slowdown caused by reducing calories. All rights reserved. © 2010 - 2020 Harvard University. Far more often, subjects use one of any number of formulas for determining the metabolism and the resulting resting energy expenditure. Resting energy expenditure represents the amount of calories required for a 24-hour period by the body during a non-active period. On the Utility of Uniformity in the Definition of Basal Rate of Metabolism. More recently, in 2020, a new wearable Breezing Pro (shown on left) was introduced for the professional health market, offering a re-designed measurement process and a HIPAA - compliant app (shown on the right). As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. If one person cuts back on calories without exercising and another person increases exercise without cutting back on calories, the first person would probably find it easier to lose weight. Basal or resting energy expenditure is correlated primarily with lean body mass (fat-free mass and essential fat, excluding storage fat), which is the metabolically active tissue in the body. Opioids after heart surgery: A cautionary tale.

High blood sugar, which often follows eating highly refined carbohydrates like a bagel or drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, has been linked to memory loss and dementia. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. B. de V. Weir. Part of the reason that it is difficult to determine resting energy expenditure is that there are a number of variables that determine someone's metabolic rate. In this method, the subject exhales into a nearly impermeable and large volume collection bag over a recorded period of time. As a person ages, his or her metabolism slows down, and thus his or her resting energy expenditure decreases. Why? By activating your account, you will create a login and password.

The resulting measures are not completely accurate because they do not consider the ratio of lean muscle mass to body weight, which can have a large effect on REE, but they still can provide a sufficient guideline for daily caloric expenditure.